(NOV  1  '  1917 

%^(.  CM  %3 


BX   9941    .C6 

Cobb,  Sylvanus,  1798-1866 
A  compend  of  Christian 
divinity 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2009  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/compendofchristiOOcobb 


(      NOV  la  1917 


C  0  M  P  E  N  D 


OF 


CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 


BY    SYLVANUS    COBB. 


SECOND   EDITION. 


BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED    BY   THE    AUTHOR 

1846. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1845,  by 

SYLVANUS    COBB, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts 


Stereotyped   by 

GEORGE    A.    CURTIS; 

NEW  ENGLAND  TYPE  AND  STEREOTYPE  FOUNDRY. 


PREFACE. 


In  the  preparation  of  this  work  for  the  pubHc,  we 
are  governed  by  a  desire  for  the  promotion  of  Christian 
knowledge  and  virtne.  Though  all  knowledge  is  im- 
portant in  its  place,  and  there  are  discoveries  of  sub- 
lime moral  and  scientific  truths,  from  a  study  of  the 
nature  and  fitness  of  things,  yet  nothing  has  such 
power  to  enlarge,  elevate,  purify  and  bless  the  human 
mind,  as  the  knowledge  and  love  of  revealed  religion. 

This  work  is  a  desideratum  in  the  Universalist  pub- 
lic. We  have  many  able  Theological  productions ;  but 
they  are  devoted  respectively  to  some  particular  point 
or  points  of  the  general  system  of  Christian  doctrines, 
no  one  book  comprising  a  complete  compend  or 
body  of  divinity.  We  often  meet  with  inquirers  after 
truth,  who  ask  our  reference  to  a  book,  from  which 
they  can  obtain  a  knowledge  of  our  views  of  Chris- 
tianity as  a  whole,  embracing  all  its  essential  princi- 
ples. To  such  a  book  we  have  not  been  able  to  refer 
them.  The  different  writers  have  accomplished  their 
respective  designs;  but  no  one,  of  whom  we  know,  has 
grasped  so  extensive  a  plan. 

This  is  the  plan  undertaken  by  the  writer  of  the  fol- 
lowing pages.  The  being  of  God ;  his  Creation  of  the 
world  and  all  things  in  it :  the  Character  of  God  ;  his 


IV  PREFACE. 

Law  for  the  government  of  his  children :  the  Penalties 
of  the  law,  their  Nature  and  Design ;  the  Judgment 
of  God,  and  the  Judgment  committed  to  Jesus  Christ ; 
Forgiveness  of  Sins,  viewed  in  relation  to  the  Scrip- 
ture doctrine  of  Retribution ;  the  Person  of  Jesus 
Christ, — his  Mission,  and  the  great  and  glorious  pur- 
pose of  his  mission ;  the  Evidences  of  Christianity  in 
the  Gospel  History ;  the  Resurrection ;  the  Sovereignty 
of  God  and  Moral  Accountability  of  Man ;  Faith, 
Repentance,  and  the  New  Birth ;  and  the  practical 
Influence  of  the  Christian  Doctrines  on  the  heart  and 
life ; — all  these  subjects,  in  which  are  involved  all  the 
principles  of  faith  and  practice  in  revealed  religion,  are 
here  consecutively  presented,  and  variously  argued, 
each  being  exhibited  in  its  own  distinctive  features, 
and  in  its  harmony  with  all  the  rest. 

I  have  been  several  years  contemplating  this  work, 
and  preparing  different  portions  of  it,  as,  from  time  to 
time,  my  other  engagements  have  afforded  me  leisure. 
And  now,  having  brought  it  to  a  completion,  while  I 
am  conscious  of  the  imperfections  of  its  execution,  I 
send  it  forth  in  the  agreeable  hope,  that  it  will  be  the 
humble  means  of  aiding  many  inquiring  minds  on 
their  way  to  truth,  to  God,  and  to  heaven. 

I  do  not  claim  to  represent,  in  all  things,  the  entire 
body  of  Christians  to  which  I  belong.  There  are 
some  minute  particulars  in  which  the  true  liberty  of 
thought  among  us  has  led  to  a  variety  of  opinions. 
Perhaps  the  point  in  which  there  is  the  greatest  differ- 


PREFACE. 


ence  of  opinion  amongst  us,  is  in  the  subject  of  our 
thirteenth  chapter,  the  Sovereignty  of  God  in  its  rela- 
tion to  the  AccountaJDihty  of  Man.  But  even  here  the 
essential  difference  is  not  so  great  as  the  differ- 
ence in  the  manner  of  expression.  I  have  uttered 
what  I  take  to  be  truth  on  the  subject,  with  faithful- 
ness and  candor.  I  piously  believe  that  the  evasions 
which  some  Christians,  of  different  orders,  have  prac- 
tised in  relation  to  this  subject,  are  of  unfavorable  ten- 
dency. A  fear  has  been  entertained  in  respect  to  the 
moral  influence  of  a  full  development  of  truth.  Scrip- 
tural and  Philosophical,  on  this  subject.  But  I  believe 
that  no  moral  good  can  result  from  a  perpetual 
strife  of  the  will  against  the  convictions  of  the  under- 
standing, and  an  effort  to  build  virtue  on  forced  and 
unsatisfactory  ground.  Better  go  with  truth  into  all 
its  depths  and  heights,  and  build  virtue  on  its  own  le- 
gitimate, harmonious,  and  eternal  principles.  Better 
dig  down  to  the  solid  rock,  and  build  our  house  upon 
it,  that  when  the  winds  beat  upon  it,  and  the  floods 
come,  it  may  stand  secure. 

I  Avould  not  be  understood  as  meaning  that  there  is 
no  discretion  to  be  used,  as  to  time,  occasion  and  man- 
ner, of  dwelling  on  certain  subjects,  which  lie  deep  in 
the  great  heart  of  universal  nature.  The  circulation 
of  the  blood  in  the  physical  system  is  an  important 
fact,  useful  to  be  known.  Yet  I  would  not  have  one 
forever  thinking,  and  watching  and  dwelling  on  the 
heart's  palpitations.     Adapting  the  knowledge  of  this 


1=^ 


VI  PREFACE. 

great  fact,  as  occasion  requires,  to  its  legitimate  use- 
ful purposes,  we  will  ordinarily  leave  this  grand  hid- 
den work  to  the  laws  which  are  established  for  it,  and 
go  about  the  duties  of  those  visible  relations  which  be- 
long to  our  common  concerns.  But  all  accessible 
truths,  the  most  hidden  from  the  superficial  glance,  in 
philosophy  and  revelation,  it  is  our  duty  and  privilege 
to  know,  and,  according  to  its  natural  uses,  to  improve 
and  enjoy. 

It  is  recommended  to  inquirers  after  truth,  that  they 
commence  with  this  work,  and  read  it  through  in 
course.  Let  the  Scriptures  referred  to  in  the  sev- 
eral chapters  be  examined  in  their  connexions ;  and, 
by  help  of  the  Concordance,  let  the  Scripture  teach- 
ings generally,  on  the  same  subject,  receive  due  atten- 
tion. And  in  pursuit  of  this  interesting  course  of  study 
for  Christian  culture  and  improvement,  let  the  har- 
mony of  the  Christian  doctrines  be  especially  noticed, 
as  an  internal  evidence  of  their  true  divinity.  Let 
each  precious  truth,  as  you  gather  it  on  the  way,  be 
treasured  up,  and  put  to  practice,  that  ''your  friends 
may  have  occasion  to  say  of  you  as  the  apostle  said 
to  the  Thessalonian  Christians,  that  "  your  faith  grow- 
eth  exceedingly,  and  the  charity  of  every  one  of 
you  all  toward  each  other  aboundeth." 

With  regard  to  references  to  the  original  languages 
of  the  Scriptures,  I  have  been  as  sparing  of  them  as 
was  deemed  compatible  with  duty,  touching  the  sense 
of  the  sacred  text.     The  words  Sheol,  Hades,  Geheu- 


PREFACE.  Vii 

na  and  Tartarus,  which  are  all  rendered  hell  in  the 
Common  Version,  have  become  Anglicized  by  familiar 
discussion  and  use.  There  is  no  more  predantry  in  a 
familiar  reference  to  them,  when  discussing  the  pas- 
sages in  which  they  occur,  than  there  is  in  the  use  of 
the  term  baptize^  which  is  the  Greek  word  with  an 
English  termination.  These  words  should  all  have 
been  permitted  to  stand,  like  bajHizo^  untranslated  in 
the  Scriptures ;  and  then  the  definition  and  history  of 
them  would  have  been  introduced  into  our  English 
dictionaries,  and  the  English  reader  of  the  Bible 
would  have  found  easier  access  to  some  of  its  teach- 
ings. 

The  same  remarks  may  be  made  on  the  word  Aion^ 
in  its  substantive  and  adjective  forms.  If  it  had  been 
invariably  retained  in  the  Common  Version,  untrans- 
lated, it  would  only  have  been  adding  another  word 
to  the  English  vocabulary,  and  the  common  reader 
would  have  easily  gathered  an  idea  of  its  proper  force 
by  observing  its  ample  Scripture  usage,  and  compar- 
ing text  with  text. 

To  the  foregoing  catalogue  may  be  added  the  Greek 
word  Krisis,  which  signi^es  jndgme?ii,  co7idemnatio7i 
or  punishment.  It  is  in  a  few  instances  rendered  dam- 
nation in  the  New  Testament.  The  school-boy  reads 
in  the  Scriptures,  ''He  that  believeth  not  shall  be 
damned;  "  ''He  shall  be  in  danger  of  eternal  {aio7iion) 
damnationy  He  goes  to  the  English  dictionary,  and 
finds  the  word  damn  defined  to  signify,  "  To  doom  to 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

torments  in  a  future  state."  In  this  manner  he  is  de- 
ceived. He  does  not  know  that  the  Saviour  used  a  sy- 
nonymous verb  in  the  passage,  ''He  that  believeth  not 
shall  be  damned^  as  where  it  reads,  "  He  that  believeth 
not  is  condemned  already;  and  this  is  the  condemnation, 
that  men  have  loved  darkness  rather  than  light,  be- 
cause their  deeds  were  evil."  If  he  had  known  this, 
he  would  have  been  likely  to  perceive  that  Jesus,  in 
the  first  mentioned  saying,  spoke  of  the  condemnation 
which  is  connected  with  unbelief,  and  is  limited  by  it. 
And  then,  too,  upon  reading,  (Mark  iii.  29,)  "Who- 
soever blasphemeth  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  hath 
never  (not)  forgiveness  {eis  ton  aiona^  to  the  age,)  but  is 
in  danger  of  eternal  damnation,"  {aionion  h^iseos,  age- 
lasting  punishment,)  he  would  be  able  to  comprehend 
that  the  aionioji  punishment  to  which  the  Jews  should 
be  subjected  for  that  sin,  is  the  same  aion  of  condem- 
nation wito  which  they  should  not  have  forgiveness ; 
an  aion  which  shall  have  ended  when  the  fulness  of 
the  Gentiles  are  come  in,  and  "  all  Israel  shall  be 
saved,  as  it  is  written." 

I  do  not  mean,  however,  that  the  Greek  word  for 
condemnation  should  have  been  preserved  in  the  Eng- 
lish Version.  It  would  not  have  been  so  convenient  a 
word  for  Anglicizing.  But  there  should  have  been  a 
greater  uniformity  in  the  translation.  These  facts  all 
should  know,  that  they  may  not  be  misled  by  the 
sound  of  a  word  in  the  English  tongue. 

I  have  referred  to  other  original  terms,  in  a  few  in- 


PREFACE.  IX 

Stances  only,  when  it  seemed  necessary  to  give  force 
to  an  important  idea  involved  in  the  subject. 

It  will  be  observed  by  the  reader,  that  I  have  not 
headed  the  chapters  of  this  work  with  a  statement  of 
doctrines  which  I  pledge  myself  in  the  outset  to  main- 
tain. The  chapters  are  headed  with  the  proposed  sub- 
jects of  inquiry,  and  we  follow  the  evidence  in  com- 
ing at  our  conclusions.  Truth  is  our  aim  ;  and  why 
should  a  man  desire  to  deceive  himself,  or  to  be  de- 
ceived? "Prove  all  things,  hold  fast  that  which  is 
good,"  is  a  noble  sentiment  for  human  life.  As  we 
advance  by  the  practice  of  this  principle,  we  shall 
pluck  of  delicious  sweets  as  we  pass  along, — and  new 
beauties,  and  increasing  glories  will  open  to  our  view 
as  we  travel  onward. 

There  is  one  important  fact  which  I  think  every 
candid  reader  will  distinctly  perceive  in  the  perusal  of 
this  work.  We  have  not  depended  upon  the  doubtful 
criticism  of  a  word  to  sustain  a  darling  tenet.  It  is  a 
phenomenon,  remarkable,  but  not  unusual,  to  see 
Doctors  enlisted  in  the  cause  of  dogmas,  which  are  pal- 
pably opposed  to  the  revealed  character  of  God,  to  the 
avowed  principles  and  purposes  of  his  government,  to 
the  spirit  and  design  of  the  Saviour's  mission,  to  the 
acknowledged  wishes  of  the  Deity,  to  the  deep 
soul-moving  prayers  of  all  good  men, — in  short,  op- 
posed to  every  holy  aspiration  in  earth  or  heaven, — 
and  there  they  stand,  with  inveterate  will  contending 
for  such  dogmas,   by  the  bare  instrumentality  of  a 


X  PREFACE. 

verbal  criticism.  And  what  must  soon  prove  fatal  to 
their  thankless  cause,  is,  that  this  very  sovereign  de- 
fence, their  verbal  criticism,  is  itself  as  great  a  perver- 
sion of  words,  as  their  doctrines  are  of  principles. 
Ours  is  a  happier  lot.  To  all  the  essential  doctrines 
which  are  brought  out  and  established  by  these  inves- 
tigations, we  have  been  led  as  legitimate  results,  by 
following  the  great  fundamental  principles  of  revela- 
tion, as  they  flow  in  unbroken  currents  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  end  of  the  Inspired  Volume, — principles 
which  all  sects  acknowledge  to  gush  out  in  the  kind 
desires  of  the  eternal  Father,  and  which  have  the 
hearty  AMEN  of  all  benevolent  beings.  Yea,  more, — 
all  true  criticism  of  words,  too,  conducts  to  the  same 
results.     Shall  not  these  doctrines  stand  forever  ? 

We  intended  to  comprise  our  work  within  the  com- 
pass of  400  pages  ;  but  when  it  was  nearly  completed 
in  stereotype,  we  found  ourself  obliged  to  enlarge  it 
by  the  addition  of  32  pages,  and  were  obliged  to  abridge 
the  last  two  chapters,  to  avoid  increasing  it  even  to  a 
larger  size.  This  addition  renders  the  work  more  ex- 
pensive to  us,  and  will  diminish  the  remuneration  of 
our  own  labors  and  outsets, — for  we  make  no  addition 
to  the  contemplated  price.  Our  hope  is  that  it  may 
do  good,  and  that  it  may  be  found  worthy  of  a  place 
in  many  a  Christian  family  in  our  country  and  the 
world.  Unto  this  end,  may  the  blessing  of  God  at- 
tend it. 


INDEX. 


Page. 

Preface, 3 

CHAPTER  I 
God — His  Existence, 13 

CHAPTER  n. 
God  as  the  Creator, 19 

CHAPTER  m. 
The  Character  of  God, .        .33 

CHAPTER  IV. 
God  as  the  Lawgiver. — Nature  and  Design  of  the  Law,      .        .      50 

CHAPTER  V. 

Penalties  of  the  Law, 59 

Section  I. — Nature  and  Design  of  the  Penalties,     ...  59 
Section  H. — Controverted  Terms,  Designating  and  Qualifying 

Punishment, 72 

The  term  HeU,  from  Sheol  and  Hades,         ....  73 

Gehenna, 80 

Tartarus, 96 

Aion  and  Aionios,  Forever  and  Everlasting,         .        .        ,  105 

CHAPTER  VL 

Judgment, 112 

Judgment  by  Jesus  Christ, 123 

CHAPTER  Vn. 
Punishment  and  Forgiveness, 146 

CHAPTER  Vm. 

The  Person  of  Christ.    Who  is  He  ? 168 

Section  I. — An  Examination,  by  the  Light  of  Scripture,  of 

Prevailing  Opinions  concerning  Christ,       .        ,     168 
Section  IL — A  more  particular  View  of  the  New  Testament 

Teachings  of  the  Person  of  Christ,       .        .         .     183 
Section  HL — Christ  the  Image  of  God,  and  Exalted  in  his  Glory,    198 


XU  INDEX. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Page. 

The  Mission  of  Christ, 210 

Section  I. — Erroneous  Views  Examined, — Christ  suffered  not 

Infinite  Wrath  as  a  Substitute  for  Man,      .        .210 

Section  II. — Salvation  from  Sin, 220 

Section  III. — The  General  Purpose  of  the  Saviour's  Mission,      228 
Objections, 263 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Christ  of  the  New  Testament  the  Messiah  of  the  Old,  .        .    273 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Truth  of  the  Gospel  History, 288 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Resurrection, 306 

Resurrection  to  Condemnation, 320 

Resurrection  of  the  Just, 352 

What  shall  be  Raised? 359 

Shall  we  know  each  other  in  Heaven?         .        .        .        .368 

On  the  Time  of  the  Resurrection, 370 

The  Spirits  in  Prison, 376 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
The  Foreknowledge  and  Sovereignty  of  God,  and  Moral  Account- 
ability of  Man, 386 

Section  I.— The  Foreknowledge  and  Sovereignty  of  God,        .    386 
Section  II. — The   Sovereignty  of  God  and  Accountability  of 

Man,  Harmonized, 399 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Faith,  Repentance,  and  the  New  Birth, 412 

Faith, 412 

Repentance, 415 

The  New  Birth, 417 

CHAPTER  XV. 
The  Influence  of  Christianity  in  forming  the  Life,       .        .        .    425 


COMPEND  OF  CHRISTIAN  DIVINITY. 


CHAPTER    I. 


GOD. HIS  EXISTENCE. 


The  beginning  of  all  things  is  God.  This  funda- 
mental truth  the  Scriptures  declare  distinctly,  and  with 
power.  "  There  is  one  God."  And  it  is  interesting 
to  go  often  out  into  an  exploration  of  the  works  of 
God,  for  living  confirmations  of  his  blessed  word. 
"  For  the  invisible  things  of  him  from  the  creation  of 
the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood  by  the 
things  that  are  made,  even  his  eternal  power  and  God- 
head." 

Indulge  your  thoughts  in  meditation,  and  you  are 
impressed  with  the  evidence  of  power,  pre-existent, 
and  all-controlling.  You  awake  into  being  without 
your  own  volition,  and  by  the  operation  of  a  law  mys- 
terious as  existence  itself,  which  no  man  instituted. 
You  breathe  and  you  see,  by  mechanisms  which  you 
contrived  not,  and  which  you  can  never  understand. 
Your  lungs  are  inflated  by  an  atmosphere  which  you 
formed  not ;  and  you  are  warmed  and  enlightened  by 
a  sun  which  you  did  not  create.  Regardless  of  your 
consent,  you  are  driven  through  space  a  thousand 
miles  every  hour  by  the  earth's  diurnal  rotation;  and 
more  than  sixty-eight  thousand  miles  an  hour  by  its 
2 


14  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

annual  revolution.  Thus  you  are  plunged  into  the 
darkness  of  night ;  and  anon  you  are  roused  with  the 
brightness  of  day.  And  thus  you  are  driven  to  your 
firesides  by  the  freezing  cold  of  Winter ;  and  you  are 
again  called  forth  to  the  airy  field  by  the  enlivening 
warmth  and  the  cheering  song  of  Spring.  You  can 
plant,  to  be  sure,  and  you  can  sow;  but  you  could 
never  have  contrived  a  seed  with  vegetative  power, 
nor  will  the  winds  and  rains  obey  orders  from  you. 
The  grain  you  sow,  and  the  grass  upon  which  your 
cattle  feed,  grow  by  a  process  which  you  could  never 
have  contrived,  and  which  your  boasted  powers  of 
reason  are  unable  to  copy. 

When  you  commence  your  existence,  it  is  under  cir- 
cumstances of  which  you  have  no  control;  and  you 
are  conscious  of  being,  to  a  great  extent,  disposed  of 
through  life  by  powers  not  your  own.  And  when 
your  boasted  selves  go  hence,  and  your  mortal  powers 
lie  motionless  in  death,  no  wheel  in  nature  stops  for 
want  of  you ; — the  power  which  brought  you  here,  and 
upheld  you  here  a  season,  moves  on  its  mighty  works 
when  you  are  gone. 

But  unseeji  power  is  not  all  the  invisible  essence, 
which  the  mind  discovers  in  the  works  of  nature. 
Inielligence  is  no  less  manifest  than  power.  We  see 
design  in  the  things  around  us.  And  design  involves 
counsel ;  and  counsel  involves  intelligence. 

In  the  agreement  of  parts  in  nature,  and  the  adapta- 
tion of  things  to  certain  useful  ends,  we  have  demon- 
strative proof  of  counsel  and  design.  For  what  pur- 
pose does  the  earth  perform  its  annual  ecliptic  circuit 
around  the  sun  ?  It  is  to  bring  about  the  pleasing  and 
profitable  variety  of  seasons.  And  for  what  purpose 
does  the  earth  revolve  daily  on  its  axis  ?    It  is  to  pro- 


GOD — HIS    EXISTENCE.  16 

duce  the  necessary  interchange  of  day  and  night. 
And  to  furnish  this  regular  and  frequent  interchange 
of  day  and  night,  is  precisely  as  a  world  must  have 
been  planned,  to  be  a  fit  abode  of  such  creatures  as 
inhabit  our  globe.  We  need  frequent  seasons  of  repose 
in  sleep ;  and  the  darkness  of  night  is  adapted  to  our 
want.  How  much  better  suited  to  the  purpose  of  quiet 
and  refreshing  sleep  is  the  sable  darkness,  which 
hushes  all  the  world  to  silence  and  sleep  at  once,  than 
would  be  the  glare  of  perpetual  day,  with  the  world 
in  bustle  all  around.  And  how  kindly  for  man  is  the 
arrangement,  fixing  for  him  his  seasons  of  rest,  rather 
than  that  he,  anxious  to  push  his  labors  forward, 
should  have  been  left  to  select  for  himself  A  further 
purpose  of  good  is  answered  by  the  interchange  of  day 
and  night,  in  the  healthful  coolness  of  the  atmosphere, 
and  the  refreshment  afforded  vegetation.  The  cool- 
ness combines  with  the  darkness  of  the  evening  to 
invite  us  to  rest ;  and  the  freshness  combines  .with  the 
light  of  the  morning  to  urge  us  again  to  labor. 

Another  pleasing  manifestation  of  design,  proving 
the  existence  of  an  intelligent  Being  to  calculate,  is  in 
the  construction  of  the  atmosphere.  It  is  so  contrived 
as  to  break  the  rays  of  the  sun  into  a  pleasant  light 
and  genial  warmth,  to  supply  us  with  breath  and  con- 
vey sound ;  and  also  to  buoy  up  vapors,  and  discharge 
them  in  gentle  showers  upon  the  earth's  surface.  If  it 
were  not  for  this  element,  contrived  just  as  it  is,  it 
would  have  been  in  vain  that  we  were  furnished  with 
such  wonderfully  constructed  lungs,  for  we  could  not 
have  breathed; — it  would  have  been  in  vain  that  we 
were  furnished  with  such  curiously  organized  ears,  for 
we  could  not  have  heard ; — it  would  have  been  in  vain 
that  eyes  were  given  us,  for  we  could  not  have  seen ; — 


16  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

and  it  would  have  been  in  vain  that  the  seeds  of  all 
trees  and  herbs  were  in  the  ground,  for  they  could  not 
have  been  watered  by  fructifying  showers,  nor  warmed 
by  genial  suns.  Nor  with  this  mysterious  element, 
could  light,  or  heat,  or  showers  have  blessed  us,  if 
there  had  been  no  sun  to  operate  upon  it.  What  a 
wonderful  calculation  upon  ends,  and  unerring  adapta- 
tion of  means ! 

See  also  the  proof  of  counsel  and  design,  in  the 
correspondence  between  the  wants  of  all  sentient 
creatures,  and  the  provisions  which  are  furnished  for 
their  sustenance.  Every  creature  finds  a  provision 
furnished,  which  agrees  with  its  constitutional  wants; 
and  the  form  of  its  body,  and  of  all  its  members,  is 
accommodated  to  its  use  in  procuring  the  provision 
required. 

Why  have  there  not  been  animals  brought  into 
being,  with  constitutional  wants  that  have  no  corre- 
sponding provision?  And  why  has  it  not  happened 
that  the  construction  of  the  bodies  and  limbs  of  ani- 
mals was  incompatible  with  the  climate  they  were 
made  to  inhabit,  and  unsuitable  for  use  in  supplying 
their  natural  wants  7  Why  had  not  the  raindeer,  who 
loves  upon  hard  sharp  hoofs  to  prance  over  fields  of 
ice,  the  soft  flagging  feet  of  the  tropical  camel  7  Why 
had  not  the  lion  that  roars  for  his  prey,  the  hoofs  and 
the  teeth  of  the  domestic  horse?  Why  had  not  the 
ox,  whose  stomach  craves  the  herbs  and  grass  of  the 
field,  the  neck  and  the  mouth  of  the  fishes  of  the  sea? 
And  why  had  not  the  lungs,  or  the  substitute  for 
lungs,  of  the  fishes  of  the  sea,  been  placed  in  the 
winged  and  plumed  bodies  of  the  fowls  of  the  air? 
Why  no  such  incongruities?  Why,  even  in  those 
things  which  derive   their  existence  from  proximate 


GOD HIS    EXISTENCE.  17 

sources  independent  of  each  other,  is  there  such  pre- 
cise and  adaptable  agreement,  wherever  such  agree- 
ment is  needful  ?  It  is  because  there  is  a  GOD,  answers 
reason,  whose  wisdom  and  understanding  planned, 
when  his  power  produced  these  things. 

Surely  that  man  must  be  in  a  strange  delirium,  who 
imagines  that  all  this  agreement  of  parts  in  the  uni- 
versal whole,  and  this  wise  adaptation  of  means  to  the 
production  of  useful  and  needful  ends,  is  brought 
about  by  a  power  as  blind  and  senseless  as  the  ab- 
stract whirlwind.  "While  he  laughs  at  credulity,  a 
blind  credulity  is  his  only  faith.  He  is  blind  to  the 
evidence  of  truth,  and  believes  the  harder  side.  For 
the  existence  of  intelligence  to  plan  and  direct  in  what 
we  call  the  works  of  nature,  is  as  evident  as  that  there 
is  power  to  produce.  We  can  as  clearly  see  that  things 
exist  for  certain  definite  purposes,  as  that  they  exist 
at  all. 

But  I  cannot  find  in  all  creation  a  stronger  impress 
of  the  Creator's  wisdom,  than  in  you,  for  whom  I  pen 
these  cogitations.  Every  bone,  muscle,  sinew,  nerve, 
artery,  vein,  in  your  bodies,  is  jointed,  placed  and 
strung,  precisely  as  it  should  be  for  the  purposes  of 
life  and  motion,  suited  to  your  mode  of  being  and 
sphere  of  action.  And  the  senses  are  exactly  adapted 
to  the  purposes  of  enjoyment.  When  I  consider  the 
consummate  wisdom  and  skill  in  the  construction  of 
the  organs  of  tasie^  by  which  we  test  the  quality  of  the 
sustenance  received,  and  derive  pleasure  from  the 
mandication  of  the  food  we  eat ; — and  in  the  organs 
of  smelly  by  which  we  detect  what  is  unsavory  before 
we  receive  it,  and  are  delighted  with  the  fragrance  of 
sweet  spices  and  flowers ; — and  of  sight^  by  which  we 
direct  our  steps  in  safety,  and  survey  the  delightful 
2* 


18  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

beauties  and  glories  of  creation  around  us ; — of  Aear- 
ing,  to  hold  sweet  social  converse,  and  to  feast  upon 
the  harmony  of  sounds,  and  the  rich  tones  of  friend- 
ship and  love; — and  especially  when  I  consider  the 
construction  of  the  mind,  to  reason  and  judge  on  what 
you  hear  and  see,  to  store  up  the  abundant  treasures 
of  knowledge,  truth  and  virtue,  and  to  '4ook  through 
nature  up  to  nature's  God," — I  exclaim  with  the  Psalm- 
ist, "  The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  there  is  no  God." 
Surely  "  the  invisible  things  of  him  from  the  creation 
of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood  by  the 
things  that  are  made,  even  his  eternal  power  and  God- 
head." 

St.  Paul  speaks  of  feeling  after  and  finding  God. 
He  who  habitually  disciplines  his  mind  and  moral 
affections,  by  the  study  of  the  word  and  works  of 
God,  and  the  communion  of  his  spirit,  will  acquire  the 
power  to  perceive  the  being  and  enjoy  the  presence  of 
the  eternal  Father. 


CHAPTER    II. 

GOD  AS  THE  CREATOR. 

In  the  foregoing  chapter,  we  have  recognized  the 
being  of  God,  as  it  is  declared  in  the  Scriptures,  and 
attested  by  the  voice  of  nature.  This  second  chapter 
is  substantially  a  continuation  of  the  same  subject, — 
relating  to  God,  however,  more  directly  as  the  Creator 
of  the  world,  and  especially  of  man. 

The  Scripture  teachings  of  God's  authorship  of  the 
world  and  its  furniture,  are  put  forth  in  the  simple 
authority  of  truth.  There  is  no  shade  of  doubtful- 
ness, no  fear  of  contradiction.  As  a  truth  known  of 
God,  and  belonging  to  man,  the  inspired  witnesses 
utter  it  in  sublime  assurance.  "  In  the  beginning  God 
created  the  heaven  and  the  earth."  "So  God  made 
man  in  his  own  image."  "  And  hath  made  of  one 
blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of 
the  earth." 

But  this  Bible  doctrine  in  relation  to  the  origin  of 
our  race,  some  are  disposed  to  question,  even  to  cast 
away.  And  what  better  account  do  they  give  us  7 
None.  When  they  discard  the  Bible  testimony,  they 
are  lost.  Their  folly  becomes  manifest,  and  their  con- 
fusion is  pitiable.  Yes ;  after  all  the  vain  contradic- 
tions of  men,  the  Bible  account  of  the  origin  of  man  is 
the  only  philosophical,  as  well  as  the  only  authenti- 
cated account,  attained  or  attainable.  Go  and  exam- 
ine all  the  guesses  of  skeptics,  who,  in  their  proud 
haste  to  make  a  masterly  leap  above  the  weakness  of 
credulity,  plunge  from  rational  faith  into  the  merest 


20  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

credulity  itself.  How  will  they  account  for  the  begin- 
ning of  our  race  ? 

Sometimes  they  will  say  that  the  human  species  was 
without  beginning,  existing  from  eternity.  Was  there 
ever  then  a  first  pair,  male  and  female,  who  are  self- 
existent,  and  without  beginning?  Then  they  had 
existed  from  eternity  when  they  first  had  an  issue; 
and  being  self-existent,  they  had  a  necessary  and  inde- 
pendent being,  immortal  of  course,  and  are  somewhere 
in  existence  now.  Where  are  they?  They  are  not 
transported  to  any  other  world, — for  such  a  change  of 
worlds  would  require  a  miracle ; — and  in  miracles  the 
skeptic  has  no  belief  They  must  be  somewhere  on 
the  earth,  an  eternity  old  !  and  we  should  be  pleased  to 
see  them.  They  are  of  course  flesh  and  blood,  objects 
of  sight;  and  we  crave  an  introduction  to  that  first 
man  and  woman,  who  were  without  beginning,  self- 
existent,  and  independent ! 

No ;  they  will  not  finally  admit  that  there  was  a  first 
pair,  or  any  individual,  without  beginning.  It  is  the 
species,  the  succession  of  individuals,  and  not  a  single 
individual,  that  was  without  beginning.  But  this 
hypothesis  explodes  itself  If  there  was  no  individual 
self-existent  from  eternity,  then  every  individual  of  the 
human  race  had  a  beginning.  And  if  every  individual 
of  our  species  had  a  beginning,  then  the  whole  race 
had  a  beginning.  So,  also,  if  the  whole  race  had  a 
beginning,  there  was  a  first  individual,  or  first  pair^ 
that  began  to  be.  How  did  they  begin  ?  This  ques- 
tion returns  upon  us. 

We  know  that  the  first  man  must  have  been  pro- 
duced in  a  manner  diiferent  from  the  present  descent 
of  one  generation  from  another  preceding;  for  the  first 
man  had  no  preceding  generation  of  men  to  produce 


GOD    AS    THE   CREATOR.  ^ 

him.  To  say  that  the  first  pair  were  produced  by  the 
rich  mud  of  Egypt,  is  too  silly  to  bespeak  the  sincerity 
of  those  who  assert  it.  Honorable  minded  man  !  So 
ambitious  of  the  credit  of  denying  the  existence  and 
creative  agency  of  God,  as  to  ascribe  thine  own  noble 
being  to  the  original  creation  of  the  senseless  mud  of 
Egypt !  Go,  then,  take  of  the  Egyptian  clay,  and  in 
filial  homage  worship  it, — for  it  is  thy  Creator. 

But  if  the  fermentation  of  senseless  matter,  or  any 
natural  operation  of  the  laws  of  the  material  world,  pro- 
duced the  first  human  being,  why  does  not  the  same 
cause  produce  such  beings  now  ?  Should  a  wild  man  be 
found  in  the  woods,  would  infidels  believe  that  he  had 
grown  up  out  of  the  ground  with  the  trees  and  shrubs? 
or  that  an  accidental  concurrence  of  atoms  had  formed 
him  ?  They  would  scout  the  thought.  They  do  not, 
m  fact,  believe  that  there  is  power  in  senseless  matter 
to  work  out  such  results. 

Let  your  thoughts  dwell  for  a  moment  on  the  idea 
of  unconscious  matter  going  at  work  to  create  a 
human  being.  The  particles  which  are  requisite  for 
the  purpose  come  together,  and  form  a  skeleton  of 
bones,  providing  such  pieces,  all  in  their  due  form,  as 
are  requisite  for  the  head,  body  and  limbs, — and  all 
measured  and  jointed,  and  perfectly  adapted  to  the 
fiUure  motion  and  convenience  of  the  wonderful  crea- 
ture that  is  about  to  be.  But  these  can  never  be  of 
service,  unless  there  are  ropes  and  cords  provided  for 
moving  them ;  and  so  another  description  of  particles 
comes  out  from  the  arcana  of  nature,  and  they  form 
themselves  into  tough  and  elastic  cords,  adapted  in 
size  and  strength  to  the  stations  they  are  to  take, — and 
they  string  around  this  skeleton  of  bones,  fastening 
themselves  here  and  there ;  and  where  bands  at  the 


2i4  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

joints  are  needful  to  keep  them  in  place,  new  particles 
volunteer  their  service  to  form  bands  where  they  are 
required ;  and  where  loops  are  wanted,  through  which 
for  the  cords  to  pass  in  order  to  draw  the  bones  in  the 
right  direction,  other  particles  come  up  and  form  such 
loops,  taking  care  that  they  shall  be  so  adjusted  as  to 
give  the  pulleys  free  and  effective  action  by  them. 
But  these  cords  cannot  serve  their  purpose  without  a 
moving  process ;  and  so  another  troop  of  particles  vol- 
unteer themselves,  and  form  into  muscles,  which  take 
their  stations  so  as  to  draw  the  ropes  in  the  required 
directions,  and  assume  such  size  in  the  different  sta- 
tions, as  their  labor  in  such  stations  may  demand. 
And  now  another  provision  must  be  had.  When  the 
skeleton  of  bones  is  strung  with  cords,  and  these,  prop- 
erly banded  and  looped,  are  bedded  and  hitched  in 
muscles, — and  these,  furthermore,  are  all  wrapped  and 
secured  in  a  beautiful  covering  of  skin,  there  must  be 
some  method  of  communicating  motion  to  the  muscles, 
and  impelling  them  to  draw  the  ropes  in  the  desired 
direction.  For  this  purpose  a  more  subtle  class  of 
particles  combine, — all  senseless  matter,  no  intelU- 
gence,  no  power  of  designing, — they  happen  to  fall 
together  in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce  a  sensorium 
and  will,  a  will  to  command  the  motion  of  the  muscles 
in  every  part  of  the  system,  v/ith  an  authority  to  be 
obeyed.  But  to  give  action  even  to  the  will  which 
commands  the  muscles,  the  blood  must  be  provided, 
and  circulation  given  it;  and  a  breathing  apparatus 
must  be  furnished, — and  life,  which  none  of  these  par- 
ticles themselves  possess,  must  be  given  this  organized 
body.  For  the  breathing  apparatus  can  neither  give 
life,  nor  act  without  it.  Its  action  is  a  means  of  per- 
petuating life  in   the  system,  but  it  cannot  give  it. 


GOD    AS    THE    CREATOR.  23 

When  the  life  is  gone  from  the  body,  no  inflation  of 
the  hmgs  with  air  can  restore  it.  Yet  this  Hfeless, 
senseless  matter,  which  happened  to  come  together  in 
the  formation  of  this  wonderful  structure  of  the  first 
man,  gave  it  life ; — and  in  addition  to  other  wonderful 
contrivances  too  numerous  to  mention  here,  gave  to 
this  new  made  creature  the  wonderful  faculty  of  intel- 
ligence and  reason ! 

Think,  kind  reader,  of  all  this  being  done  solely  by 
dead  unconscious  matter,  with  no  intelligence  to  plan, 
to  design  and  superintend  it.  Who  believes  it  ?  Who 
is  so  weakly  credulous,  or  so  madly  infatuated? 

And  when  this  noble  being  is  formed,  he  is  alone ; 
and  though  he  has  social  faculties  and  wants,  he  must 
remain  alone  while  he  lives ;  and  when  he  dies,  leave 
the  world  unpeopled  again,  unless  the  same  sort  of 
senseless  matter  goes  on  creating  others  like  him, — or 
else  happens  to  combine  together  in  the  establishment 
of  some  other  cause  for  the  multiplication  and  perpe- 
tuity of  his  species.  And  so  we  must  believe,  if  we 
will  get  along  without  a  Creator,  that  about  the  same 
time  this  first  man  was  forming  \%ithout  a  former,  out 
of  unconscious  matter,  another  set  of  particles  was 
happening,  all  without  any  intelligence  in  the  universe 
to  design  it,  to  be  getting  together  in  the  formation  of 
another  intelligent  being,  constituted  female,  to  be  a 
companion  and  help-meet  for  the  man.  And  having 
thus  provided,  in  the  constitution  of  this  first  pair,  for 
the  peopling  of  the  whole  earth,  here  this  mindless 
matter  leaves  its  work,  and  never  happens  to  produce 
such  beings  in  this  primitive  manner  again  ! 

Surely  no  person  can  be  stupid  enough  to  believe, 
upon  reflection,  in  a  position  so  absurd  and  ridiculous. 
And  hard  must  be  the  labor  of  that  infatuated  mind. 


^  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

which  has  so  strange  a  desire  to  orphanize  the  uni- 
verse,  as  to  purposely  hide  away  from  the  Ught  of 
truth,  which  is  shining  before  and  behind  him,  above 
and  below,  and  on  his  right  hand  and  left,  in  every 
object  he  looks  upon,  and  in  every  subject  on  which  he 
holds  converse. 

But  we  will  return  to  the  immovable  position  of  the 
Bible,  where  the  mind  finds  rest  and  satisfaction. 
There  must  be  something  self-existent,  and  without 
beginning.  And  it  is  as  easy  to  conceive  of  self-exis- 
tent mind,  as  of  self-existent  matter.  Indeed,  that 
alone  of  which  you  can  conceive  as  unbeginning,  is 
that  which,  like  space  itself,  is  all-pervading  and  un- 
changing, and  whose  existence  is  not  composed  of 
measured  parts,  or  successive  revolutions.  And  when 
we  have  received  the  fact  of  one  self-existent  GOD,  an 
unbeginning  all-pervading  MIND,  there  appears  no 
longer  any  thing  strange  in  all  the  wonderful  and  glo- 
rious works  which  are  constantly  going  on  in  the  uni- 
verse around  us.  Without  this  faith,  every  day,  hour 
and  minute  presents  us  with  a  succession  of  unac- 
countable and  distracting  wonderments.  But  in  the 
faith  of  God  the  Creator,  all  are  accounted  for  in  the 
wisdom  and  power  of  Jehovah.  The  existence  of  our 
glorious  world,  with  the  adaptedness,  order,  and  util- 
ity of  its  parts ;  and  of  the  various  creatures  which 
live  and  move  on  the  earth,  with  the  nicely  planned 
structure  of  their  bodies,  their  powers  and  capacities 
suited  to  their  states  and  natures,  and  the  correspond- 
ing provisions  adapted  to  their  wants;  for  all  these 
things  the  divine  Greatness  is  an  adequate  cause.  Yes  j 
when  we  consider  our  own  wonderful  existence,  the 
thousands  of  exact  contrivances  in  our  system,  all 
combined  being  necessary  to  make  us  what  we  are ; 


GOD    AS    THE    CREATOR.  25 

and  when  we  reflect  that  there  must  have  been  a  first 
pair,  male  and  female,  brought  into  being  in  a  manner 
different  from  the  present  natural  descent  of  our  spe- 
cies, even  by  the  immediate  creation  of  almighty  Intel- 
ligence, we  come  home  with  satisfaction  to  the  Bible 
affirmation : — ">S'o  God  created  man  in  his  own  image; 
in  the  image  of  God  created  he  him  ;  male  arid  female 
created  he  them.  And  God  blessed  them^  and  God  said 
unto  them^  Be  fruitful^  and  multiply^  and  replenish  the 
earthy  and  subdue  it.^''  '•'•He  giveth  to  all  life^  and  breathy 
and  all  things  ;  and  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  natioiis 
of  men,  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth.^'' 

While  the  Bible  gives  us  the  only  rational  and 
authentic  account  of  the  origin  of  our  race,  the  time 
which  it  assigns  for  that  origin  is  also  confirmed  by 
every  argument  which  is  deducible  from  known  and 
historical  facts.  We  know  that  within  our  own  recol- 
lection, there  have  been  important  improvements  made 
in  the  arts.  From  this  we  perceive  that  the  human 
mind  is  naturally  on  the  stretch  for  discovery  and 
inventions,  and  that  if  our  race  had  been  here  from 
eternity,  or  for  millions  of  ages,  the  progress  of  im- 
provements would  have  gone  far  in  advance  of  the 
present.  Indeed,  the  very  idea  of  improvements  in  a 
race  of  beings,  leads  us  to  trace  them  back  to  a  begin- 
ning. And  when  we  go  into  authentic  history,  and  see 
what  improvements  have  been  added  by  the  present 
generation,  and  subtract  them  from  the  sum  total  of 
human  attainments,  we  see  the  civilized  world  of  the 
preceding  age  to  be  so  much  lower.  And  thus  we  go 
downward  as  we  trace  backward.  And  by  every 
authentic  source  of  information,  we  trace  the  human 
species  downward,  back  of  all  improvements,  to  a 
3 


i6  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

State  of  simple  nature,  by  the  time  we  get  to  the  date 
of  creation  as  given  ns  by  the  Scriptures. 

I  know  that  some  have  atttempted  an  argument 
from  certain  figures  which  have  been  found  in  Egypt 
and  China,  purporting  to  be  dates  running  far  back  of 
the  Bible  chronology.  But  it  has  been  made  evident 
by  learned  researches,  that  the  pretences  which  the 
Egyptians  made  to  antiquity,  so  far  back  of  the  time 
recorded  in  the  Scriptures,  proceeded  in  part  from  their 
calculating  by  lunar  years  or  months ;  and  probably  in 
part  from  their  reckoning  the  dynasties  of  their  kings 
in  succession,  which  were  cotemporary.  For  Hero- 
dotus mentions  twelve  Egyptian  kings  as  reigning  at 
one  time ;  which,  if  reckoned  by  an  ignorant  or  a  de- 
signing chronologist  as  reigning  in  succession,  would 
make  a  vast  difference  in  dates.  They  had  such  differ- 
ent accounts,  however,  of  chronology,  that,  as  it  is 
affirmed,  some  of  them  computed  about  thirteen  thou- 
sand years  more  than  others,  from  the  original  of  their 
dynasties  to  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great.^  Indeed, 
there  are  numerous  confutations,  which  I  have  not 
time  to  recite,  of  the  Egyptians'  fabulous  pretensions 
to  antiquity.  They  have  nothing  authentic  reaching 
back  so  far  as  the  time  assigned  by  Moses  for  the  cre- 
ation of  our  first  progenitors. 

The  same  remarks  in  general  will  apply  also  to  the 
pretensions  of  the  Chinese.  Indeed,  they  themselves 
confess,  that  their  antiquities  are  in  great  part  fabu- 
lous; and  they  acknowledge  that  their  most  ancient 
books  were  in  hieroglyphics,  which  were  not  ex- 
pounded by  any  one  who  lived  nearer  than  one  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  years  to  the  first  author  of  them ; 

*  Home's  Introduction,  vol.  1,  p.  173. 


GOD    AS    THE    CREATOR.  27 

and  that  the  numbers  in  computation  are  sometimes 
mistaken,  or  that  months  are  put  for  years. 

Finall^r,  as  I  said  before,  we  get  back  to  a  point,  by- 
running  back  in  any  channel  of  authentic  information, 
by  the  time  we  have  gone  back  six  thousand  years. 
From  beyond  that  period  there  has  no  improvement, 
no  trace  of  an  earher  age  been  handed  along  to  us. 
How  wonderfully  does  this  circumstance  confirm  the 
Bible  account  of  the  beginning  of  our  improvable 
race,  and  of  the  time  of  such  beginning. 

Suppose  a  number  of  boys  are  taken  in  early  child- 
hood and  placed  upon  an  uninhabited  island,  in  such 
circumstances  that  they  can  just  make  a  shift  to  sus- 
tain themselves  till  they  grow  up  to  manhood.  They 
have  no  recollection  of  any  human  beings  but  them- 
selves, and  they  know  nothing  of  birth  or  of  death. 
When  they  have  obtained  a  knowledge  of  the  island 
in  which  they  live,  including  the  growth  and  decay  of 
plants  and  trees,  and  have  acquired  the  habit  of  rea- 
soning, they  start  the  question  of  their  origin.  One 
suggests  that  they  were  in  being  from  eternity ;  and 
another,  that  they  had  a  beginning,  and  that  at  no  very 
distant  period.  Here  they  join  issue.  The  former  has 
no  other  argument  to  offer  than  that  they  do  not  knoiu 
their  beginning.  The  latter  argues  from  the  following 
facts : — They  perceive  that  they  have  been  advancing 
in  stature,  in  strength,  and  in  knowledge.  They  have 
marks  upon  their  walls  which  designate  the  height  of 
their  stature  as  they  were  a  few  years  ago, — not  half 
their  present  height, — and  they  remember  when  they 
were  quite  small  and  weak,  and  could  not  understand 
nor  do  what  they  can  at  the  present  time.  So  they 
trace  back  the  retrograde  of  their  growth  and  improve- 
ments, to  smaller  and  smaller  things  in  relation  to 


f> 


fi8  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

themselves,  until  their  recollection  is  lost  in  the  con- 
fused indistinctness  of  earhest  childhood.  From  these 
facts  he  argues,  and  that  conclusively,  that  in  some 
way  or  other,  and  at  a  time  not  far  from  the  termi- 
nation of  their  recollection  in  the  littleness  of  their 
stature  and  experience,  they  had  a  beginning. 

What  is  true  of  the  boys  in  the  case  supposed,  is  true 
of  the  human  race  as  a  species, — substituting  history, 
and  the  monuments  of  art,  for  the  boys'  memory.  We 
find  the  human  race  improvable  and  improved.  We 
trace  back  the  retrograde  of  their  improvements  to 
days  of  smaller  and  smaller  things,  until  we  find  our 
race  in  a  rude,  unimproved,  infantile  state,  and  pro- 
fane history  is  lost  in  confusion.  And  all  this  is  within 
the  compass  of  the  last  six  thousand  years.  This  is 
not  only  decisive  argument  for  the  doctrine,  which 
nothing  but  extreme  madness  and  folly  can  dispute, 
that  our  race  had  a  beginning ;  but  it  is  also  strongly 
confirmative  of  the  date  to  which  the  Bible  assigns 
such  beginning.  How  strangely  in  love  with  darkness 
must  that  mind  be,  which  will  discard  the  Mosaic  ac- 
count of  the  creation  of  our  species,  because  it  assigns 
such  creation  to  so  recent  a  date,  when  every  circum- 
stance which  has  a  bearing  on  the  subject  confirms 
this  date, — and  you  cannot,  by  any  authentic  channel 
of  information,  step  a  foot  beyond  it. 

But  some  have  thought  that  even  the  Bible  account 
implies  that  there  were  people  on  the  earth  before 
Adam  and  Eve.  For  when  there  was  only  recorded 
the  creation  of  Adam  and  Eve,  and  the  birth  of  Cain 
and  Abel,  we  read  of  Cain's  murdering  Abel,  and  then 
of  his  being  afraid  lest  every  one  finding  him  should 
slay  him.  "  And  the  Lord  set  a  mark  upon  Cain,  lest 
any  finding  him  should  slay  him."     ''  Who  was  there," 


h 


GOD    AS    THE    CREATOR.  29^ 

it  has  been  triumphantly  asked,  ^'  for  Cain  to  be  afraid 
of,  since  Abel,  the  only  other  progeny,  was  dead,  and 
he  was  left  alone  with  his  parents?"  In  answer,  I 
demand  to  be  informed,  what  is  the  evidence  that  Cain 
was  then  the  only  surviving  child  of  his  parents? 
This  very  account  of  Moses  implies  that  the  progeny 
of  Adam  and  Eve  had,  by  that  time,  become  some- 
what numerous.  There  are  but  five  chapters  of  Gen- 
esis devoted  to  the  first  fifteen  hundred  years.  Of 
course  nothing  more  was  attempted  than  to  touch  upon 
some  prominent  features  of  the  history,  some  important 
links  in  the  chain  of  events,  from  the  creation  to  the 
flood.  The  birth  of  only  such  persons  is  recorded,  as 
are  made  the  subjects  of  some  remark,  or  as  stand  in 
the  direct  line  of  genealogy.  The  language  of  Moses 
recognizes  the  fact,  that  much  transpired  which  he  did 
not  record.  His  language  is,  "  And  iii  process  of  tbne 
it  came  to  pass,  that  Cain  brought  of  the  fruit  of  the 
ground,"  &c.  ^^ In  jjrocess  of  time  it  came  to  pass;" 
which  is  as  much  as  to  say,  a  considerable  term  of 
time,  and  series  of  events,  passed  in  their  course, 
which  I  do  not  record.  Adam  was  one  hundred  and 
thirty  years  old  when  Seth  was  born,  which  was  soon 
after  the  death  of  Abel.  Accordingly  there  had  been 
nearly  one  hundred  and  thirty  years,  more  than  half 
the  age  of  the  oldest  North  American  civilized  settle- 
ment, for  the  posterity  of  Adam  to  multiply,  and  spread 
out  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  when  Cain,  in  guilty 
despair,  was  afraid  of  summary  vengeance  from  his 
neighbors. 

It  has  also  been  asked,  "  If  there  were  no  people  on 

the  earth  but  Adam  and  Eve,  with  their  posterity,  how 

did  Cain  get  him  a  wife  in  the  land  of  Nod?"     The 

record  does  not  say  that  he  did.     People  have  read 

3* 


30  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

carelessly.  It  speaks  of  Cain's  departing,  and  going  into 
the  land  of  Nod,  and  of  an  event  there  in  relation  to  his 
wife,  in  a  manner  implying  that  his  wife  constituted  a 
member  of  his  family  before.  The  word  Nod  signifies 
vagabond;  a  name,  of  course,  which  the  country  did 
not  bear  before,  but  which  was  given  it  on  account  of 
this  vagabond  settling  in  it.  It  was  probably  an  un- 
settled tract,  where,  with  his  own  family,  he  sought 
seclusion. 

Some  have  thought  that  the  different  statures  and 
complexions  of  men  in  different  parts  of  the  world, 
argue  against  their  common  origin,  as  of  one  blood, 
proceeding  from  one  progenitor.  But  I  am  sure  that 
this  objection  will  not  hold.  The  difference  of  features 
and  complexion  caii  be  rationally  accounted  for,  by 
the  influence  of  climate  and  circumstances,  affecting 
the  complexion  and  the  phrenological  developments. 
Or,  if  some  of  the  most  strongly  marked  differences 
should  be  thought  to  require  a  special  interposition  of 
the  divine  agency,  to  make  certain  means  effect  the 
change,  it  is  more  philosophical  to  suppose  that  such 
divine  agency  was  in  such  manner  interposed,  than 
that  as  many  first  pairs  were  created  out  of  the  earth. 
Reason  concurs  with  the  Scriptures,  in  tracing  back 
the  descent  of  human  kind  all  to  one  original  stock — 
so  that,  notwithstanding  there  are  different  complex- 
ions, we  shall  view  all  men  as  members  of  one  family, 
all  blood  relations,  bound  to  regard  each  other  with 
fraternal  affection. 

REFLECTIONS. 

Finally,  after  all  the  war  of  words,  the  Bible  stands 
on  an  immovable  basis  of  truth.     Composed  of  writings 


GOD    AS   THE   CREATOR.  31 

which  run  through  more  than  4000  years,  interwoven 
freely  and  unreservedly  with  names  of  persons  and 
places,  and  with  dates,  and  histories,  it  has  borne  the 
strictest  scrutiny — the  rigid  scrutiny  of  foes  as  well  as 
friends — and  it  stands  unrefuted — ^nay,  confirmed. 
It  waxes  stronger  and  wears  brighter  by  use.  If  there 
has  been  any  seeming  advantage  gained  of  it,  it  has 
been  by  misrepresentation.  It  comes  up  from  the 
wars  of  ages,  waving  its  banners  of  triumph,  and 
shining  in  divine  beauty  and  glory.  It  contains  a 
chain  of  prophecies,  whose  consistency  and  fulfilment 
attest  their  divinity;  and  it  inculcates  a  system  of 
faith  and  morals,  whose  internal  harmony  and  excel- 
lence, and  whose  wonderful  adaptedness  to  the  comfort 
and  the  moral  perfectness  of  man,  prove  it  to  be  the 
workmanship,  the  provision,  of  the  same  God  who 
has  constituted  the  human  mind  to  need  it. 

I  was  filled  with  admiration  for  the  value  of  the 
Scriptures,  when,  some  time  since,  I  stepped  into  our 
Supreme  Court  to  listen  a  few  moments  to  a  plea  of  one 
of  the  leading  enemies  of  the  Bible,  who  was  on  trial  for 
profanity  and  obscenity.  In  censuring  the  bad  spirit 
which  he  thought  was  manifested  by  the  prosecuting 
officer  of  government,  he  took  occasion  to  contrast 
it  with  the  spirit  and  precepts  of  said  officer's  professed 
Master.  So  he  is  constrained  to  resort  to  Jesus  Christ, 
or  to  his  religion,  as  the  standard  of  moral  perfectness. 
How  strangely  is  that  man  set  at  work,  to  be  employ- 
ing misrepresentation,  and  every  art,  to  ridicule,  and,  if 
possible,  overthrow,  that  system  of  religion  unto  which 
he  is  forced  to  go,  when  he  would  refer  to  a  perfect 
standard  of  moral  goodness  !  Surely  he  must  be  like 
Milton's  fallen  angels,  seeking  to  get  revenge  on  man- 
kind, because  of  his  own  disappointment.     He  would 


32  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

rob  US  of  our  highest  good,  and  in  return,  give  us — 
nothing. 

We  consent  not  to  the  exchange.  We  take  to  our 
hearts  the  word  of  God.  You  that  are  aged,  it  is  the 
stay  and  solace  of  your  dechning  years.  You  that  are 
in  the  active  prime  of  manhood,  its  principles  cheer 
and  animate  you  in  your  labors,  inspire  and  bless  you 
in  your  duties,  and  add  a  high  zest  to  all  your  pure 
enjoyments.  You  that  are  young,  the  teachings  of 
this  sacred  Book  distill  the  refreshing  dews  of  grace 
and  virtue  into  your  expanding,  blooming  minds,  and 
nourish  there  those  rich  principles  of  faith  and  love, 
which  shall  yield  you  the  sure  harvest  of  peace  and 
joy  now  and  in  after  years. 

"  Here  the  Redeemer's  welcome  voice 
Spreads  heavenly  peace  around  ; 
And  life  and  everlasting  joys 
Attend  the  blissful  sound. 

O  may  these  heavenly  pages  be 

Our  study  and  delight ; 
And  still  new  beauties  may  we  see, 

And  still  increasing  light." 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE    CHARACTER   OF   GOD. 

We  have  said  that  the  beginning  of  all  things  is 
God.  But  the  value  of  God  to  the  universe,  the  foun- 
dation of  all  human  confidence,  and  the  reason  of  hu- 
man praise,  is  his  character.  None,  therefore,  will  be 
reluctant  to  give  devout  attention  to  this  subject,  with 
an  earnest,  child-like  simplicity  of  heart.  There  are 
certain  intellectual  and  physical  attributes  of  God, 
which  I  shall  here  set  forth,  but  not  dwell  upon, 
because  they  are  understood  and  conceded  by  all 
theists. 

First; — God  is  possessed  of  infinite  Knowledge. 
The  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  Deity  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  Scriptures  in  various  ways.  The  pro- 
phet says,  (1  Sam.  ii.  3 :)  "  For  the  Lord  is  a  God  of 
knowledge,  and  by  him  are  actions  weighed."  Job 
expresses  the  idea  of  unlimited  knowledge  in  God,  by 
a  challenge  to  all  men  to  give  him  instruction.  (Job 
xxi.  22:)  "Shallany  teach  God  knowledge?"  Again, 
(Job  xi.  8,)  the  boundless  extent  of  the  Divine  knowl- 
edge is  represented  thus:  "It  is  as  high  as  heaven; 
what  canst  thou  do  ?  Deeper  than  hell,  (sheol,  or  the 
unknown  depths;)  what  canst  thou  know?"  St. 
Paul  said,  (Acts  xv.  18,)  "  Known  unto  God  are  all 
his  works  from  the  beginning  of  the  world." 

The  unbounded  knowledge  or  omniscience  of  God, 
is  involved  in  his  omnipresence.     And  his  omnipres- 


34  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

ence  is  beautifully  expressed  by  the  psalmist  in  the 
following  poetic  manner.  (Psalm  cxxxix.  7 — 10 :) 
''  Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  spirit?  or  whither  shall 
I  flee  from  thy  presence  ?  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven, 
thou  art  there.  If  I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  {sheol,) 
behold,  thou  art  there.  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the 
morning,  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea, 
even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me,  and  thy  right  hand 
uphold  me." 

But  I  need  not  weary  the  reader  with  the  multipli- 
cation of  proofs,  on  a  point  which  is  not  disputed ;  and 
I  will  close  this  section  of  my  work,  with  the  admira- 
ble description  of  the  Divine  omniscience  furnished  by 
Dr.  Clarke.  ^'  Omniscience,  or  the  j^oioei^  to  knoio  all 
things^  is  an  attribute  of  God,  and  exists  in  him  as 
omnipotence^  or  the  power  to  do  all  things.  *  *  God 
cannot  \\kvq  fore-knoxdedge^  strictly  speaking,  because 
this  would  suppose  that  there  was  something  comings 
in  what  we  call  futurity^  which  had  not  yet  arrived  at 
the  presence  of  the  Deity.  Neither  can  he  have  any 
after-knowledge^  strictly  speaking,  for  this  would  sup- 
pose that  something  that  had  taken  place,  in  what  we 
call  pretere'ity^  or  p)(^st  time^  had  now  got  beyond  the 
presence  of  the  Deity.  As  God  exists  in  all  that  can  be 
called  eternity^  so  he  is  equally  everywhere:  nothing 
can  be  future  to  him,  because  he  lives  in  ^futurity : 
nothing  can  be  past  to  him,  because  he  equally  exists 
in  all  past  time :  futurity  and  pretereity  are  relative 
terms  to  us;  but  they  can  have  no  relation  to  that 
God  who  dwells  in  every  point  of  eternity, — with 
whom  all  that  is  ^ast^  all  that  is  present.,  and  all  that 
is  future  to  man,  exists  in  one  infinite,  indivisible,  and 
eternal  NOW."     (See  Clarke  on  Acts  ii.  23.) 

Second; — God  is  infinitely  Wise.     "Blessed  be  the 


CHARACTER    OF    GOD.  35 

name  of  the  Lord  forever,  for  wisdom  and  might  are 
his."     "  O  Lord,  how  manifold  are  thy  works ;  in  wis- 
dom hast  thou  made  them  all."    (  Ps.  civ.  24.    Dan.  ii. 
20.)     "  O,  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom 
and  knowledge  of  God  !  how  unsearchable  are  his  judg- 
ments, and  his  ways  past  finding  out ! "    (Rom.  xi.  33.) 
Wisdom  and   knowledge,    are,    perhaps,    generally 
looked  upon   as   synonymous   terms.     But   they  are 
doubtless  more  accurate  who  consider  them  as  dis- 
tinct.    "Knowledge  consists   in   having  a   stock  of 
proper  ideas  and  notions  of  things;  wisdom  consists 
in  reducing  these  to  practice,  in  conducting  any  affair 
with  ingenuity  and   skill."      Therefore  as  God  pos- 
sesses infinite  knowledge  and  wisdom,  he  knows  per- 
fectly well  what  is  best  to  be  done,  and  has  ability  or 
skill  to  contrive  such  a  system,  to  institute  such  ar- 
rangements, and  to  put  things  into  such  orderly  and 
harmonious  operation,  as  to  secure  the  desired  and 
intended  ultimatum. 

Ti^ird;— God  hath  almighty  Poiver.  To  Abraham 
he  said,  "I  am  the  almighty  God."  (Gen.  xvii.  1.) 
"  God  hath  spoken  once,  twice  have  I  heard  this,  that 
power  belongeth  to  God."  (Ps.  Ixii.  11.)  "Lift  up 
your  eyes  on  high,  and  behold  who  hath  created  these 
things,  that  bringeth  out  their  host  by  number :  he 
calleth  them  all  by  names,  by  the  greatness  of  his 
might,  for  that  he  is  strong  in  power;  not  one  faileth." 
"  Who  hath  measured  the  waters  in  the  hollow  of  his 
hand,  and  meted  out  heaven  with  a  span,  and  com- 
prehended the  dust  of  the  earth  in  a  measure,  and 
weighed  the  mountains  in  scales,  and  the  hills  in  a 
balance?  All  nations  before  him  are  as  nothing;  and 
they  are  counted  to  him  as  less  than  nothing,  and 
vanity."     (Isa.  xl.)     "  And  he  doeth  according  to  his 


30  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

will  in  the  army  of  heaveiij  and  among  the  inhabitants 
of  the  earth;  and  none  can  stay  his  hand,  or  say 
unto  him,  What  doest  thou  ?  "  (Dan.  iv.  35.)  "  I  am 
God,  and  there  is  none  else ;  I  am  God,  and  there  is 
none  like  me ;  declaring  the  end  from  the  beginning, 
and  from  ancient  times  the  things  that  are  not  yet  done; 
saying,  My  counsel  shall  stand,  and  I  will  do  all  my 
pleasure."  (Isa.  xlvi.  9,  10.)  "Who  worketh  all 
things  after  the  counsel  of  his  own  will."    (Eph.  i.  11.) 

Thus  far  we  find  the  character  of  God  to  be  such  as 
to  inspire  us  with  profoundest  awe.  Om?iiscie?it  and 
all-wise;  his  discernment  is  present  in  all  time  and 
space,  and  comprehends  all  past,  present,  and  future 
events.  And  his  wisdom  plans  all  things,  for  "all 
things  are  of  God,"  and  arranges  them  for  successful 
operation.  And  his  omnipresent,  all-pervading,  al- 
mighty power,  works  for  him,  grasping  an  infinite 
variety  of  means,  adapted  to  the  countless  natures, 
relations,  forms  and  manners,  of  the  works  and  opera- 
tions he  designs.  In  humble  submission  we  bow  to 
the  force  of  his  word  by  the  prophet,  ^^  I  will  work,  and 
who  shall  let  ii?^^     (Isa.  xliii.  13.) 

But  while  we  stand  in  wonder,  amazement,  and 
awe  profound,  in  contemplating  the  vastness  of  the 
Divine  intelligence,  and  wisdom,  and  power,  there  is 
yet  a  feature  in  the  Divine  character  which  must  be 
especially  considered,  as  the  only  foundation  of  confi- 
dence, love  and  praise.  Wisdom  and  might  alone  can- 
not render  a  being  an  object  of  trust.  Without  moral 
principle,  that  wisdom  may  be  a  fiendish  cunning,  and 
that  power  the  executor  of  fiendish  malevolence. 
Hence  the  importance  of  the  divine  moral  attributes. 
We  will  proceed  then  to  expatiate, — 

Fourth ; — On  the  Righteousness  of  God.     This  fea- 


CHARACTER  OF  GOD.  37 

ture  of  the  Divine  character  is  the  most  constantly  and 
conspicuously  held  forth  in  the  Scriptures,  as  the  chief 
corner-stone  in  Bible  theology.  And  the  rigiiteous- 
ness,  the  mercy  and  the  goodness  of  the  Lord,  are 
always  urged  as  the  reason  or  ground  of  trust,  and 
love  and  praise.  "  O  that  men  would  praise  the  Lord 
for  his  goodness,  and  his  wonderful  works  to  the  chil- 
dren of  men."  "  O  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord,  for  he 
is  good;  for  his  mercy  endure th  forever."  ''O  praise 
the  Lord,  all  ye  nations;  praise  him,  all  ye  people. 
For  his  merciful  kindness  is  great  towards  us ;  and  the 
truth  of  the  Lord  endureth  forever."  ^'  How  excellent 
is  thy  loving-kindness,  O  God !  therefore  do  the  chil- 
dren of  men  put  their  trust  under  the  shadow  of  thy 
wings."  "God  is  love."  ''God  commendeth  his 
love  towards  us,  in  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners 
Christ  died  for  us."  ''  We  love  him,  because  he  first 
loved  us."' 

And  here  let  it  be  remarked,  that  when  the  Scriptures 
ascribe  goodness,  or  love,  to  God,  they  mean  the  same 
quality,  or  principle,  as  that  which  is  attributed,  by  the 
same  terms,  to  man.  Some  have  conceived  of  such  a 
difference  between  the  moral  qualities  expressed  by 
these  terms,  when  applied  to  God,  and  when  applied  to 
man,  as  to  make  them  even  opposite  principles.  When 
we  have  objected  to  a  certain  piu^pose  which  they  as- 
cribe to  God,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  shocking  to  every 
principle  of  benevolence,  and  that  the  execution  of  it 
would  forever  mar  and  even  destroy  the  happiness  of 
heaven,  they  have  urged  that  if  we  are  saints,  when  we 
become  inhabitants  of  heaven  we  shall  not  be  pained 
by  witnessing  distress  in  others,  for  we  shall  then 
get  rid  of  these  human  feelings  of  tenderness,  and  shall 
be  like  God!  If  it  were  so,  the  terms  righteousness^ 
4 


38  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

good7tess  and  love^  applied  to  God,  were  unmeaning 
words.  They  express  nothing  which  our  moral  sense, 
in  this  world,  has  any  power  to  conceive  of.  Then 
they  who  profess  to  "praise  God  for  his  good?iess,^^ 
are  doing  homage  to,  they  "know  not  what,"  and  are 
as  those  who  worshipped  an  '■^unknown  GodP 

But  it  is  not  so.  The  spirit  of  cold  indifference  to  a 
brother's  or  a  child's  sufferings,  is  even  more  ungodly 
and  unheavenly,  than  it  is  inhuman.  The  Scriptures 
estimate  that  loving-kindness,  that  pure  benevolence, 
which  feels  for  others'  sorrows,  and  labors  always  for 
their  good,  as  the  perfection  of  the  Christian  life,  and 
a  oneness  of  spirit  with  God.  "  But  love  your  enemies, 
and  do  good,  ^  *  and  ye  shall  be  the  children  of  the 
highest;  for  he  is  kind  unto  the  unthankful  and  the 
evil.  Be  ye  therefore  merciful,  as  your  Father  also  is 
merciful."  (Luke  vi.  35,  36.)  "Be  ye  followers  of 
God  as  dear  children."  (Eph.  v.  1.)  "But  I  say 
unto  you,  Love  your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse 
you,  do  good  unto  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for 
them  that  despitefuUy  use  you  and  persecute  you; 
that  you  may  be  the  children  of  your  Father  which  is 
in  heaven.  *  ^  Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect."  (Matt.  v. 
44 — 48.)  "Be  ye  kind  one  to  another,  tender-hearted, 
forgiving  one  another,  even  as  God  for  Christ's  sake 
hath  forgiven  you."  (Eph.  iv.  32.)  "Love  is  of  God; 
and  every  one  that  loveth  is  born  of  God,  and  know- 
eth  God.  He  that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God,  for 
God  is  love."  "  And  he  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth 
in  God  and  God  in  him."     (1  John  iv.) 

Hence  it  is  seen  that  the  more  kindly  sympathetic, 
tender-hearted,  and  benevolent  a  man  is,  the  more  he 
is  like  God ;  and  that  the  love  of  God  to  his  creatures 


CHARACTER    OF    GOD.  39 

is  a  living,  active  spirit  of  affectionate  good  will,  de- 
siring and  seeking  their  highest  ultimate  good.  How 
sublime,  then,  in  this  light  of  divine  goodness,  is  the 
Scripture  asseveration,  that  "  The  Lord  is  good  to  all, 
and  his  tender  mercies  are  over  all  his  works." 

Some  may  conclude  that  I  have  now  said  enough  to 
make  myself  understood  on  this  part  of  my  subject. 
But  I  am  far  from  believing  that  such  is  the  fact.  I 
do  not  believe  that  all  my  readers  yet  fully  under- 
stand the  nature  and  magnitude  of  the  last  stated  sen- 
timent. Nor,  as  I  have  intimated  before,  do  all 
Christians  virtually  agree  in  ascribing  such  a  char- 
acter to  God.  In  form  they  will  do  this.  They  will 
say  that  God  is  a  being  of  vifinite  benevolence.  But 
there  are  many  who  only  use  the  expression  from 
habit,  without  intending  to  convey  the  meaning  which 
it  truly  bears.  They  do  not  mean  that  God  exercises 
a.  sincere  and  ever-active  interest  for  the  ultimate  good 
of  all  his  offspring.  They  believe  that  he  has  intro- 
duced into  being  millions  of  rational  creatures,  to  be 
abandoned  to  the  sport  of  endless  and  excruciating 
torments.  This  could  never  be  the  work  of  good- 
ness. To  ascribe  such  works  to  God,  and  yet  say  that 
he  is  an  infinitely  good  being,  sounds  to  us  no  less  ab- 
surd than  saying,  that  while  there  is  a  quality  in  the 
climate  of  the  frigid  zone  to  make  perpetual  ice,  it  is 
yet  an  extremely  hoi  and  torrid  climate.  It  is  to  break 
down  all  distinction  between  love  and  hatred,  and  to 
confound  benevolence  with  cruelty.  If  there  could  be 
such  a  principle  as  infinite  malignity,  and  it  had  at  its 
command  creative  power,  for  what  purpose  more  cruel, 
more  perfectly  malignant,  could  it  force  creatures  into 
being,  than  to  make  their  existence  an  infinite  evil,  the 
sport  of  unbounded  torments  ? 


'40  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

But  we  are  told  by  one  class  of  believers  in  endless 
misery,  that  they  do  not  ascribe  to  God  so  bad  a  dis- 
position, as  to  say  that  he  has  created  any  for  such  a 
purpose  J  that  they  should  be  suiferers  of  such  an  evil : 
— but  they  will  bring  it  on  themselves.  And  we  have 
no  right,  they  say,  to  complain  of  God  for  what  his 
creatures  do,  though  they  make  themselves  eternal 
losers,  infinite  sufferers,  by  their  existence.  My 
friends,  we  do  not  find  fault  with  God,  We  adore 
him  in  all  his  works,  and  in  all  his  revealed  purposes 
we  adore  him  supremely.  But  I  am  endeavoring  to 
communicate  to  your  understandings,  and  impress 
upon  your  minds,  the  doctrine  of  truth  concerning  the 
moral  character  of  God.  And  since  the  same  lan- 
guage which  I  find  it  necessary  to  employ  in  describ- 
ing the  Divine  character,  is  also  used  by  those  who 
differ  widely  from  us  in  opinion  on  the  Divine  disposi- 
tion, I  find  it  necessary  to  notice  the  opinions  of  others, 
so  far  as  to  expose  what  we  consider  their  misuse  of 
such  language.  This  I  must  do,  that  when  /  am 
describing  the  character  of  God,  I  may  not  be  misun- 
derstood. 

What  do  those  persons  mean  who  admit  that  it 
would  cast  a  foul  stain  on  the  Divine  character  to  say 
that  God  has  ci^eated  men  for  endless  misery,  and  yet 
contend  that  he  will  permit  them  to  plunge  themselves 
into  the  same  evil  7  For  what  purpose,  then,  did  he 
create  them  ?  Was  it  that  they  might  be  ultimately 
blessed  ?  Then  so  it  will  be,  for  God  can  never  be  dis- 
appointed. Being  of  infinite  knowledge,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  all  his  works  he  sees  the  result.  And  it  is 
impossible,  as  we  have  seen,  that  one  can  seriously 
undertake  a  purpose  which  he  knows  will  fail.  If  a 
part  of  the  human  family  are  to  be  finally  miserable, 


CHARACTER    OF    GOD.  41 

God  had  certain  knowledge  of  it  from  the  beginning.  In 
this  certain  knowledge  he  brought  them  forth  out  of 
nonentity  into  being ;  and  in  the  supposed  state  of  mis- 
ery he  holds  them  up  in  being  forever  !  For  what  ^wr- 
'pose  is  this  ?  With  him  who  was  infinitely  happy  in 
himself  when  man  was  not,  and  who  saw  the  end  from 
the  beginning,  for  whaf  purpose  was  it  that  he  chose  to 
exert  his  power,  and  force  into  existence  those  crea- 
tures, to  be  held  up  in  being  forever,  whose  existence 
he  saw  would  be  to  them  an  endless  curse  7  You  may 
evade  this  question  in  conversation,  but  you  cannot 
evade  it  in  your  own  understandings. 

If  such  a  being  as  the  world  has  believed  in  by  the 
name  of  Satan^  had  creative  power,  and  he  wished  to 
bring  into  existence  a  number  of  creatures  to  be  the 
final  prey  of  evil,  could  he  but  know  that  such  would 
be  the  horrid  result,  what  would  he  care  whether  they 
were  to  be  brought  into  that  evil  by  means  of  their 
own  use  of  the  agency  he  should  give  them,  influenced 
by  cooperative  circumstances  in  the  order  of  things 
which  he  should  establish,  or  whether  it  should  be 
brought  about  by  his  own  agency  more  directly  ex- 
erted 7 

I  employ  this  plainness  of  speech,  because  I  am  on 
a  subject  which  lies  near  our  hearts,  which  we  regard 
as  of  supreme  importance,  and  which  is  all  lost  if  it  be 
misunderstood.  2'he  moral  character  of  God^  as  I 
have  said,  is  the  most  important  subject  in  theology. 
It  is  the  foundation  of  all  true  piety  and  faith,  and  the 
standard  by  which  for  us  to  form  our  own  moral  prin- 
ciples. And  if  any  represent  the  purposes,  the  govern- 
ment, the  works  of  God,  in  such  a  hght  as  to  deny  his 
benevolence  in  fact  and  in  deed,  we  care  not  for  their 
ascribing  goodness  to  him  in  name.  We  care  not  how 
4*    . 


i&  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITYT 

liberal  they  may  profess  to  be,  how  charming  to  the 
ear  may  be  the  music  of  the  high-sounding  epithets 
they  ascribe  to  God.  These,  while  they  please  the  ear 
of  men,  will  but  blind  the  mind  to  the  cause  of  their 
pain  and  uneasiness  of  heart,  if  they  are  not  taught  to 
believe  and  trust  in  God's  unfailing  and  operative 
goodness  in  all  his  acts, — in  the  creation,  in  the  gov- 
ernment, and  in  the  final  disposal  of  his  family.  How- 
ever a  man  may  ascribe,  in  epithet,  every  possible 
perfection  to  God,  if  his  mind  is  entangled  and  be- 
fogged in  such  doctrines,  that  he  cannot,  in  unwaver- 
ing confidence,  hang  the  safety  of  the  universe  on  the 
arm  of  almighty  Goodness,  he  has  an  aching  void  in 
the  breast,  which  no  earthly  good,  and  no  human  doc- 
trine, can  fill  and  satisfy.  No  religious  teaching 
which  is  not  salted  and  seasoned  with  this  principle 
of  confidence  and  hope,  can  answer  to  the  description 
of  that  provision  of  God's  house,  which  abundantly 
satisfies  the  human  mind. 

On  this  point  Dr.  Wilham  E.  Channing  uses  lan- 
guage full  of  just  and  noble  sentiment.  On  the  re- 
mark that  all  Christians  agree  in  ascribing  to  the 
Supreme  Being  infinite  justice,  goodness,  and  holiness, 
he  replies,  "that  it  is  very  possible  to  speak  of  God  mag- 
nificently, and  to  think  of  him  meanly;  to  apply  to  his 
person  high-sounding  epithets,  and  to  his  government, 
principles  that  make  him  odious.  The  heathens  called 
Jupiter  the  greatest  and  the  best ;  but  his  history  was 
black  with  cruelty  and  lust.  We  cannot  judge  of 
men's  real  views  of  God,  by  their  general  language, 
for  in  all  ages  they  have  hoped  to  soothe  the  Deity  by 
adulation.  We  must  inquire  into  their  particular 
views  of  his  purposes,  of  the  principles  of  his  adminis- 
tration, and  of  his  disposition  towards  his  creatures." 


CHARACTER    OF    GOD.  43 

But  it  will  be  said  ''  the  Lord  is  just  as  well  as 
good,  and  his  justice,  too,  must  be  respected."  True, 
and  this  is  no  other  than  the  same  feature  of  the  Divine 
character  on  which  we  have  been  treating.  What  is 
justice  ?  On  this  subject  the  mass  of  mankind  enter- 
tain vague  and  chaotic  views.  They  have  made  jus- 
tice to  be  a  sort  of  separate  and  adverse  divinity, 
opposed  to  the  other  moral  attributes  of  the  deity, — 
a  mere  vindictive  spirit.  It  was  in  this  view  of  the 
subject  that  the  poet  Young  penned  the  absurd  line 
in  his  "  Night  Thoughts," 

"  A  God  all  mercy  is  a  God  unjust." 

Such  a  sentiment  must  be  a  night  thought,  truly, 
black  as  Egyptian  darkness.  It  sets  the  justice  and 
mercy  of  God  at  variance,  dividing  the  Divine  nature 
against  itself,  and  throwing  the  Divine  attributes  into 
strife  and  confusion.  It  makes  the  Creator  and  Gov- 
ernor of  the  world  to  be  unjust  when  he  is  merciful, 
and  unmerciful  when  he  is  just.  The  enlightened 
worshipper  of  God  feels  his  heart  to  revolt  at  this 
treatment  of  the  Divine  character. 

But  the  mind  is  happily  freed  from  this  thraldom 
of  darkness,  by  finding  that,  in  the  Scriptures,  j?<5^/ce 
is  righteousness,  and  righteousness  is  justice.  The 
two  words  are  rendered,  in  all  cases,  from  the  same 
in  the  original.  Where  it  is  said  the  Lord  is  a  just 
God,  the  same  original  word  is  used,  as  where  we  read 
in  the  translation  that  he  is  righteous.  And  so  it  is  the 
same  whether  we  read  of  just,  or  righteous  men.  Let 
the  reader  bear  in  mind  then,  and  never  forget,  that 
justice  and  righteousness,  in  Scripture  theology,  are 
one. 

And  now,   What  is  righteous7iess  ?     In  all  I  have 


44  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

written  in  this  chapter  of  the  moral  character  of  God, 
'his  goodness,  mercy  and  love,  I  have  been  describing 
the  constituents  of  his  righteousness.  But  as  this 
point  is  infinitely  important,  being  that  on  which  the 
entire  body  of  Christian  Divinity  rests,  and  as  the 
views  entertained  of  it,  by  a  large  portion  even  of 
Christendom,  are  so  exceedingly  false  and  pernicious,  1 
shall  be  excused  for  detaining  the  reader  a  few  moments 
longer  upon  it. 

In  answer,  then,  to  the  inquiry.  What  is  righteous- 
ness? it  must  be  said,  in  truth, — It  is  not  a  mere  exer- 
cise of  power  without  a  motive.  Nor  is  it  an  exercise 
of  power  with  an  evil  and  unkind  motive.  It  consists 
in  a  disposition  and  practice  according  to  the  principle 
of  right.  It  is,  in  short,  doing  right.  And  doing  right 
is  doing  well,  and  doing  well  is  doing  good.  Accord- 
ingly righteousness,  or  justice,  can  never  be  separate 
from  goodness. 

There  are  such  principles  as  real  right  and  real 
wrong.  And  the  distinction  between  these  principles 
exists  in  the  nature  of  things.  No  custom  or  fashion, 
sanctioned  by  the  conduct  of  any  being,  however  high 
and  mighty,  can  destroy  this  distinction,  so  as  to  con- 
vert right  into  wrong,  or  wrong  into  right.  As  this 
distinction  was  never  created  by  any  previous  custom, 
or  arbitrary  rule,  no  adopted  custom  or  rule  can  do  it 
away. 

Even  the  supreme  Being  does  not  make  things 
morally  right  by  performing  them;  but  he  performs 
all  things  which  he  does,  because  they  are  right.  In 
all  his  doings  he  recognizes  the  self-existent  distinction 
between  right  and  wrong,  and  he  reproved  not  his  ser- 
vant Abraham  for  his  interrogatory  assertion,  uttered 
in  fihal  respect,  that  he  was  bound,  by  his  own  eternal 


CHARACTER    OF    GOD.  45 

nature,  to  do  right,  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the 
earth  do  right  7     (Gen.  xviii.  25.) 

But  we  have  said  that  many,  even  in  Christendom, 
entertain  false  and  harmful  views  on  the  subject  of 
right  as  applied  to  the  Deity.  They  suppose  that  his 
conduct  is  not  directed  by  any  principle  of  right  as 
distinguished  from  wrong, — bat  that,  without  refer- 
ence to  the  moral  disposition  with  which  he  should 
act,  anything  which  his  power  might  perform  would 
be  right,  for  the  sole  reason  that  he  had  done  it.  And 
if  we  venture  to  say,  that  such  and  such  principles  of 
action  would  be  wrong,  even  if  they  could  be  exer- 
cised by  a  supreme  being,  they  will  tell  us  that  we 
have  become  bold  blasphemers,  and  expose  ourselves 
to  the  infinite  ire  of  God's  ofiended  justice  by  enter- 
taining the  thought. 

If  men  can  in  this  way,  by  administering  the  bitter 
dregs  of  terror,  so  benumb  our  moral  sense  that  we 
cannot  perceive  why  anything  is  right  which  is  done 
by  the  supreme  Being,  by  any  other  rule  than  that  of 
his  having  power  to  perform  it,  then  we  shall  not  be 
startled  at  their  requiring  of  us  to  receive  a  doctrine 
which  ascribes  to  God  the  most  evil  principles  of 
action.  We  may  then  have  doctrines  of  corrupt  moral 
principle  forced  down  into  our  minds,  without  pro- 
ducing disgust,  as  we  might  have  bitter  and  fetid  food 
forced  down  into  our  stomachs,  if  we  could  be  first 
induced  to  use  a  kind  of  drug  which  would  destroy 
our  natural  taste. 

On  this  principle  concerning  right  in  a  supreme  being, 
that  it  consists  merely  in  the  power  and  sovereign 
will  to  do  an  action,  without  regard  to  moral  disposi- 
tion,— suppose  there  were,  as  some  heathen  philoso- 
phers have  believed,  two  self-existent  supreme  beings, 


46  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

of  equal  powers,  but  opposite  moral  dispositions.  How 
would  you  decide  which  was  right  and  which  was 
wrong?  How  would  you  know  which  to  call  the 
goodj  and  which  the  evil  being?  Would  you  say  the 
two  gods  being  of  opposite  moral  dispositions,  the 
one  who  was  benevolent  towards  the  creatures  of  the 
universe,  seeking  their  highest  good,  is  the  good  being, 
— and  the  other,  the  cruel  god  who  seeks  the  real  evil 
of  the  creatures  of  the  universe,  is  the  evil  being? 
That  the  former  is  rights  and  the  latter  wrong  7  By 
what  rule  would  you  come  to  such  a  conclusion? 
Would  you  say  the  fnoral  disposition  of  the  former  is 
good^  and  that  of  the  latter  is  bad?  That  the  moral 
disposition  of  the  former  is  right^  and  that  of  the  latter 
is  wrong  7  But  your  rule  which  we  are  now  consid- 
ering will  not  help  you  to  any  such  decision.  Accord- 
ing to  this  rule,  you  are  not  to  judge  concerning  right 
in  a  supreme  being  by  consideration  of  his  moral  dis- 
position. Anything  is  right  which  he  may  have  the 
power  and  sovereign  will  to  do.  And  in  the  case  now 
supposed  of  two  supreme  deities,  though  their  moral 
dispositions  and  actions  are  opposite,  they  both  alike 
have  the  power  and  sovereign  will  to  do  whatever 
they  perform.  Then  if  jjower  and  will  make  right^ 
they  are  both  equally  right,  equally  good,  equally 
lovely,  though  one  is  the  almighty  friend^  and  the 
other  the  almighty  foe  of  the  universe  of  creatures ! 
One  is  as  morally  right  as  the  other,  though  one  is 
in  fmiteiy  malevolent,  and  the  other  infinitely  benevolent, 
because  both  alike  do  what  they  have  the  power  and 
will  to  do ! 

It  is  upon  this  principle  of  making  right  to  consist  in 
power,  that  all  tyrants  have  proceeded,  when  they 
have  been  striving  for  the  diadem  of  glory,  through 


CHARACTER  OF  GOD.  47 

works  of  oppression,  destruction  and  ruin,  among 
mankind.  Adopting  this  principle  concerning  good- 
ness and  right,  suppose  you  go  to  a  virtuous  republican 
and  Christian,  and  pronounce  before  him  the  following 
encomiums  on  some  earthly  prince.  '-Behold  the 
evidences  of  his  high  regard  to  moral  right.  He  has 
wrested  from  the  hands  of  the  people  their  hard  earn- 
ings, and  reduced  them  to  poverty.  He  has  taken 
from  them  their  liberties,  and  made  tliem  slaves.  And 
for  his  amusement  he  brings  large  numbers  before  him, 
and  in  various  ways  puts  them  to  torture  and  to  death. 
See  his  mighty  deeds  of  blood  and  carnage ;  hear  the 
groans  of  distress  from  his  oppressed  people ;  and  in 
view  of  such  stupendous  acts  of  goodness^  must  you 
not  be  struck  with  a  sense  of  his  pure  love  of  moral 
right?"  Surely  the  republican  and  Christian  to 
whom  you  should  deliver  such  harangue,  would  hear 
you,  with  disgust,  calling  cruelty  goodness^  and  power 
right. 

Bat  the  heathen  philosophers  before  referred  to,  who 
held  to  two  supreme  beings  of  opposite  moral  dispo- 
sitions, exercised  common  sense  enough  to  make  a 
distinction  between  right  and  wrong.  They  knew 
that  nothing  but  benevolence  was  goodness,  and  that 
nothing  but  goodness  was  right.  Accordingly,  their 
deity  who  was  supposed  to  be  full  of  benevolence, 
seeking  the  greatest  good  of  all  creatures,  they  called 
the  good  deity;  and  his  moral  disposition  they  re- 
garded as  the  only  true  standard  of  moral  right. 
They  knew  also  that  cruelty,  malevolence,  a  disre- 
gard to  the  good  of  mankind,  was  bad,  was  wrong. 
Accordingly,  their  deity  who  was  supposed  to  be  ma- 
levolent, to  seek  the  real  injury  of  mankind,  they 
called  the  evil  deity ;  and  to  imitate  him  they  consid- 


4C|  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

ered  morally  wrong.  Thus  they  made  a  just  distinc- 
tion between  right  and  wrong. 

Such  distinction  we  must  make  when  we  consider 
the  ways  of  God,  or  else  we  cannot  do  him  honor. 
To  say  that  we  would  adore  a  disposition  in  a  su- 
preme being  to  do  infinite  injury  to  mankind,  as  being 
just  as  right  and  praiseworthy  as  a  disposition  to  do 
them  infinite  good,  is  the  same  as  to  say  that  we 
would  adore  a  character  directly  opposite  to  God,  as 
being  just  as  right  and  praiseworthy  as  God  himself. 
It  would  be  seen  then  that  we  had  no  supreme  respect 
to  the  Divine  Being,  since  we  should  profess  that  we 
would  respect  an  opposite  character  as  much  as  we 
respect  the  character  which  he  sustains. 

We  cannot  render  to  God  acceptable  honor,  unless 
we  have  a  settled  and  enlightened  disposition  to 
respect  only  the  principle  of  moral  right.  If  such  a 
disposition  we  possess,  we  shall  respect  and  adore  the 
God  and  Judge  of  heaven  and  earth,  in  proportion  as 
we  obtain  a  knowledge  of  his  ways.  For  he  will  in 
all  cases  do  right.  He  will  not  require  us  to  regard 
a7iy  thing  as  right  which  his  power  might  be  able  to 
perform,  or  which  makers  of  religious  creeds  may 
say  he  will  perform.  Nor  will  he  require  us  to  regard 
what  he  does  perform  as  right,  merely  because  he  per- 
forms it,  without  our  first  understanding  that  all 
which  he  does,  he  does  because  it  is  right, — because 
it  tends  to  the  greatest  good  of  his  creatures. 

The  interrogation  made  by  Abraham  recognizes  a 
necessary  principle  of  right  as  self-existent  with  God, 
by  which  he  will  regulate  all  his  doings.  ''Shall 
not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right?"  Though 
Abraham  uttered  this  inquiry  with  reference  to  a 
particular  occasion,  yet  it  is  founded  on  a  principle 


CHARACTER    OF    GOD.  49 

which  is  of  universal  application.  In  all  cases  God 
will  do  right.  In  the  administration  of  rewards  and 
•punishments  he  will  do  right;  and  in  all  the  plans 
and  operations  of  his  government  he  will  do  right. 
'"Justice  and  judgment  are  the  habitation  of  thy 
throne:  mercy  and  truth  shall  go  before  thy  face."^ 

a  Ps.  Ixxxix.  14. 


CHAPTERIV. 

GOD    AS    THE    LAWGIVER. NATURE    AND    DESIGN    OF    THE    LAW. 

I.  Law  is  the  principle  or  rule  of  action,  whether 
it  relates  to  mind  or  matter.  "The  invariable  ten- 
dency or  determination  of  any  species  of  matter  to  a 
particular  form  with  definite  properties,  and  the  deter-, 
mination  of  a  body  to  certain  motions,  changes,  and 
relations,  which  uniformly  take  place  in  the  same  cir- 
cumstances, is  called  a  physical  law.  Laws  of  animal 
nature  are  the  inherent  principles  by  which  the  econ- 
omy and  functions  of  animal  bodies  are  performed ; 
laios  of  vegetation^  the  principles  by  which  plants  are 
produced.^  Moral  laio^  is  that  which  prescribes  the 
duty  of  man  to  God,  to  himself,  and  to  his  fellow-crea- 
tures. And  this,  like  the  others,  has  its  foundation  in 
the  nature  and  relations  of  things.  The  moral  law, 
comprising  the  principles  and  reasons  from  which 
proceed  the  moral  duties  and  obligations  of  men,  is 
inwrought  with  the  constitution  of  human  nature. 
And  as  the  health  and  perfectness  of  the  plant  require 
the  regular  and  harmonious  action  of  all  the  principles 
which  conduce  to  vegetative  life,  so  the  health  and  per- 
fectness of  our  moral  nature  depend  upon  the  harmoni- 
ous action  of  the  will  and  afiections,  with  the  foresaid 
principles  of  the  moral  law. 

The  written  law  of  God  is  but  a  revelation  of  the 
said  constitutional  law,  as  the  mathematician's  writ- 
ten rules  are  a  revelation  of  preexisting  mathematical 
truths.     This  revelation  was  needful  to  mankind,  to 

a  Noah  Webster. 


GOD    AS    THE    LAWGIVER.  51 

give  them  sure  knowledge  of  those  principles,  both  of 
duty  and  happiness,  to  which  their  natural  ignorance 
blinded  them,  and  from  which  conflicting  passions  and 
misconceptions  lured  them. 

And  now  it  is  a  fact  of  immense  importance  to  be 
borne  in  mind,  that  the  author  of  all  these  laws  is 
GOD.  Of  course  they  are  all  in  harmony  with  his 
other  works,  and  are  the  arrangements  and  produc- 
tions of  his  wisdom  and  goodness.  Take,  for  instance, 
the  physical  law,  which  relates  to  the  forms,  order, 
and  motions,  in  the  physical  universe.  This  law 
belongs  to  the  physical  system  as  a  part  of  itself  It 
is  not  thrown  in  to  thwart  the  general  design  of  God, 
in  this  department  of  his  creation,  but  is  indispensable 
to  the  accomplishment  of  that  design.  What  good 
purpose  could  have  been  answered  by  the  creation  of 
this  earth,  if  it  were  not  subjected  to  laws  which  secure 
its  diurnal  and  annual  revolutions,  and  the  coopera- 
tion of  its  elements  for  the  sustenance  of  animal  and 
vegetable  life  ?  Remarks  of  the  same  import  may  be 
made  of  the  laws  of  animal  nature^  and  the  laios  of 
vegetatio7i.  They  are  all  wisely  adapted  to  the  good 
purpose  of  God,  in  those  respective  departments  of  the 
great  system  of  things. 

And  so  of  the  moral  laiv^  or  the  lav/  of  God,  pecu- 
liarly adapted  to  man.  It  is  an  essential  part  of  the 
divine  arrangement  in  the  moral  creation.  Hence  it 
is  not  a  trap  or  snare,  by  which  the  Creator  has  con- 
trived to  catch  his  children  in  such  entanglement,  as 
he  might  make  an  occasion  for  doing  them  an  infinite 
injury.  The  Being,  whose  character  stands  portrayed, 
and  that  truly,  in  the  preceding  chapter,  could  never 
have  been  the  author  of  such  a  lav/, — could  never 
have  conceived  so  malignant  a  design.     He,  who  has 


^S  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

made  the  laws  of  physical  nature,  to  be  so  wisely 
adapted  to  the  good  designs  of  the  physical  system,  has 
not  failed  to  do  as  much  for  the  crowning  work  of  his 
CREATION.  The  law  of  God  to  man  is  an  arrangement 
for  carrying  on  his  benevolent  purpose  in  this,  his 
highest  creation.  And  for  this  God-honoring  and 
trustful  sentiment,  we  are  not  left  alone  to  reason's 
inductions  from  the  Divine  character.  The  supreme 
Lawgiver  has  caused  to  be  inserted  in  the  book 
which  reveals  his  law,  the  following  explicit  exposi- 
tion of  its  spirit  and  design:  "And  the  Lord  com- 
manded us  to  do  all  these  statutes,  and  to  fear  the 
Lord  our  God,  for  our  good  always.'"' 

And  what  other  aim  could  the  Creator  have  in 
giving  laws  to  his  children,  than  their  good?  Will 
you  say  that  he  aimed  at  the  promotion  of  his  own 
glory  1  His  essential  glory  was  infinite  before  men  or 
angels  had  a  being;  and  he  was  happy  in  his  own 
eternal  perfections.  And  his  declarative  glory — what 
is  it?  It  is  the  display  of  his  glorious  perfections  to 
the  understandings  of  his  creatures.  For  what  object? 
For  a  mere  display  of  himself,  without  regard  to  their 
good?  Would  you  be  so  blasphemous  as  to  ascribe  to 
the  Divine  Being  a  vain  pride?  My  blood  curdles  at 
the  thought.  I  am  horror-stricken,  when  I  think  that 
some  men  have  represented  that  the  declarative  glory 
of  God  is  a  mere  show  of  strength,  a  spoilt  as  it  were 
of  power,  regardless  of  the  welfare,  or  inftictive,  rather, 
of  the  final  evil  of  his  children !  The  declarative 
glory  of  God  is  the  display  of  his  glorious  perfections, 
all  of  which  centre  in  his  goodness.  This  display  of 
his  glory,  of  course,  which  he  makes  to  his  creatures,  is, 
through  his  wise  and  benevolent,  his  wonderful  and 

i^Deut.  vi.  4. 


GOD    AS    THE    LAWGIVER.  53 

glorious  arrangements,  designed  for  the  promotion  of 
his  creatures'  happiness.  Since,  therefore,  the  glory 
of  God  is  the  good  of  his  children ;  to  say  that  he 
aimed,  in  giving  laws  to  his  children,  at  the  promotion 
of  his  own  glory,  is  the  same  as  to  say,  that  he  aimed 
at  their  good. 

It  should  consequently  be  the  chief  concern  of  the 
moral  teacher,  to  influence  the  people's  minds  in  their 
choice  of  conduct,  by  enlightening  them  into  a  dis- 
covery of  the  eternal  connexion  between  duty  and 
happiness.  This  will  be  coming  home  to  the  very 
principles  of  their  nature,  and  the  omnipotent  springs 
of  action.  They  want  happiness, — they  love  their  own 
good ; — and  let  them  be  brought  out  of  the  deceived 
belief  that  their  good  may  be  found  in  doing  wrong, 
to  know  the  reason  and  ground  of  their  duties,  and 
that  they  are  all  commanded  of  God,  for  their  good 
always,  and  then  their  free  choice  of  obedience  will  be 
secured.  With  them  self-love  and  social  love  will 
then  become  the  same.  They  will  see  the  law  of  God, 
and  their  own  individual  happiness,  and  the  happiness 
of  the  community  in  which  they  live,  to  be  connected 
links  in  one  golden  chain,  which  is  fastened  to  the 
throne  of  the  Eternal. 

II.  To  illustrate  the  sentiment  above  established, 
and  evince  more  practically  the  goodness  of  God,  in 
the  institution  of  law  for  man,  we  will  look  at  some 
of  its  particular  requirements  in  their  application  to 
human  life.  Take  the  Decalogue,  for  instance,  as  a 
summary  of  duty  to  God  and  fellow-man. 

I.  The  first  division  of  the  Decalogue  relates  to 
our  duty  to  God,  involving,  of  course,  our  duty  to  our- 
selves. It  prohibits  all  idolatry,  and  enjoins  the  single 
5=^ 


54  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

worship  of  the  one  only  living  and  true  God.''  This  is  a 
kind  provision  for  human  improvement  and  happiness. 
It  includes  not  the  requisite  form  alone,  but  also  the 
spirit  of  devotion  to  God.  It  involves  supreme  love, 
approbation  and  respect  of  the  Divine  character, — 
thankfulness  for  the  Divine  favors, — and  a  looking  to 
God  for  direction,  and  for  all  needed  good.  In  short, 
this  part  of  the  Decalogue  is,  by  our  Saviour,  summed 
up  in  this,  -'Thou  shall  love  the  Lord  thy  God,  with 
all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind."'* 

It  is  obvious  to  sober  reflection,  that  the  doing  of 
this  great  and  primary  requisition  of  the  law,  must  be 
productive  of  the  most  sublime  enjoyment,  the  most 
high  and  exalted  happiness.  To  put  our  minds  to  that 
study  of  evidence,  by  which  we  attain  to  that  knowl- 
edge of  God,  that  acquaintance  with  his  adorable  per- 
fections, whereby  we  come  into  possession  of  supreme 
love  to  him,  this  is  coming  into  the  privilege  of  trust- 
ing God,  and  feeling  safe  in  his  care.  For  we  can 
never  fear  harm  from  one  we  supremely  love.  If  we 
love  God  with  all  the  heart,  we  must  view  him  in  his 
moral  character  to  be  supremely  trustworthy.  Hence, 
the  apostle's  saying,  "  Perfect  love  casteth  out  fear," 
because  fear  hath  torment.  To  enjoy  communion  with 
the  all-pervading  presence  of  the  Deity,  to  worship 
him  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  to  hope  in  his  almighty 
goodness,  and  to  rest  confidingly  in  his  kind  paternal 
care,  this  is  the  chief  good  of  man.  Nothing  else  can 
equal  it. 

NoAV  while  the  worship  of  the  true  God,  in  the 
adorable  character  in  which  he  is  presented  in  the 
Scriptures,  as  also  exhibited  in  the  preceding  chapter 

c  Ex.  XX.  1—7.  ^  Blatt.  xxii.  37. 


NATURE   AND   DESIGN    OF    THE    LAW.  B5 

of  this  work,  tends  to  such  elevation  of  mind,  and 
such  confidence  and  peace,  it  also  tends  to  purify  the 
mind, — to  assimilate  it  to  the  moral  image  of  the  holy- 
object  of  worship.  On  the  other  hand,  the  worship  of 
idols,  or  false  gods,  who  are  always  made  to  partake 
of  the  corruptness  of  their  debased  inventors,  both  tends 
ta  a  restless,  perturbed  state  of  the  mind,  and  a  down- 
ward course  of  human  character. 

Thus  far,  then,  in  the  law  of  God,  we  find  the 
kindest  regard  for  the  welfare  of  man. 

The  prohibition  oi profanity  is  included  in  that  part 
of  the  law  which  we  have  noticed  above ;  as  the  pro- 
fane and  obscene  use  of  the  name  of  God  is  an  act  of 
irreverence,  and  has  a  tendency  to  the  growth  and 
spread  of  irreverence  towards  God.  Hence  its  praci»rce 
and  influence  robs  man  of  the  supreme  good  above 
described,  and  violates  the  law  of  love  and  devotion 
to  the  Father. 

The  appointment  of  the  Sabbath^  or  one  day  in 
seven  for  rest  from  ordinary  labor  and  care,  may  also 
be  included  under  the  head  of  duties  to  God ;  though, 
like  all  duties  to  God,  it  involves  our  duties  to  our- 
selves and  mankind.  It  is  a  wise  and  good  provision 
for  man,  who  is  ever  eager  to  push  his  worldly  inter- 
ests forward,  that  there  should  be  a  suitable  time  of 
respite,  for  bodily  rest  and  mental  cultivation,  fixed 
for  him  by  authority.  And  this  arrangement  is  an 
indispensable  means  for  promoting  obedience  to  all  the 
other  commandments  of  the  law. 

2.  The  second  division  of  the  law  relates  directly 
to  our  conduct  towards  our  fellow-men.^  It  requires 
children  to  honor  their  parents ;  which  involves  the 
duty  of  love  and  respect  while  under  their  care,  and 

e  Ex.  XX.  12—17. 


56  •  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

of  nourishing  and  sustaining  their  decUuing  years.  It 
prohibits  murder^  and  adultery^  and  theft^  and  false 
witness^  and  all  covetoiis?tcss,  that  bane  of  social 
friendship  and  peace.  All  this,  too,  the  great  Teacher 
sums  up  in  one  word,  love.  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself"  ^  And  this  commandment  he 
esteems  as  like  unto  the  first,  that  of  love  to  God. 
For  he  who  loves  the  Lord,  who  is  "good  unto  all," 
loves  the  spirit  of  universal  goodness,  and  loves  of 
course  the  other  objects  of  the  Father's  love,  his  other 
children.  So  then,  "he  thafloveth  is  born  of  God,  and 
knoweth  God, — for  God  is  love."  "And  this  com- 
mandment have  we  from  him,  that  he  who  loveth 
God,  love  his  brother  also."° 

Is  not  this  commandment  good  for  man  ?  Picture  to 
yourselves  a  neighborhood  where  all  are  walking  in 
obedience  to  it.  Is  a  neighbor  distressed  7  Does  trou- 
ble press  upon  his  family  ?  They  all  sympathize. 
The  hand  of  kind  aifection  is  stretched  out,  the  balm 
of  consolation  is  applied,  and  the  distressed  are  restored 
to  joy  and  gladness.  Is  one  of  them  prosperous?  Does 
he  receive  a  blessing  which  adds  to  the  happiness  of 
himself  and  his  beloved  family?  They  all  rejoice. 
Being  in  the  spirit  of  fraternal  love,  they  think  not  to 
derive  happiness  from  each  other's  miseries,  but  the 
happiness  of  each  adds  to  that  of  all,  and  the  happi- 
ness of  all  to  that  of  each. 

What  a  heavenly  scene  is  this  !  Husbands  and 
wives,  parents  and  children,  brothers  and  sisters,  kin- 
dreds and  neighbors,  all  bound  by  the  strong  ties  of 
sincere  affection,  walking  on,  and  aiding  each  other 
on,  in  the  path  of  perfection  and  felicity. 

Finally,  you  may  descend  to  particulars,  in  respect 

f  Matt.  xxii.  39.  si  Jcphn  iv.  7,  8,  21. 


NATURE    AND    DESIGN   OF    THE    LAW.  S7 

to  all  the  duties  involved  in  the  principles  of  the  divine 
laAV,  and  you  will  find  them  all  to  be  necessarily  con- 
nected with  our  best  good,  our  highest  happiness  in 
life.  Consider  the  duty  of  love  and  obedience  to  God ; 
our  duty  to  ourselves,  to  cultivate  the  mind,  to  im- 
prove ourselves  in  all  the  moral  graces,  and  to  use  the 
good  gifts  of  Providence  in  conformity  with  the  rule 
of  temperance  in  all  things ;  and  our  duties  to  man- 
kind, to  exercise  good-will  to  all,  to  be  kind  and  for- 
giving, just  and  true,  sympathetic  and  helpful,  to  strive 
for  the  general  good.  He  who,  in  all  these  things, 
obeys  the  Creator's  law,  rests  in  cheerful  hope  in  God. 
His  time  is  occupied  in  some  useful  employment,  in 
the  business  of  doing  good.  He  walks  among  man- 
kind with  the  fearless  majesty  of  moral  integrity  and 
truth ;  and  his  mind,  the  mirror  of  heaven,  is  the  clear, 
the  calm,  and  the  pure  receptacle  of  happiness  serene, 
rational,  abiding.  His  heart  responds,  amen,  to  the 
inspired  description  of  wisdom's  service  ; — "  Her 
ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are 
peace.  She  is  a  tree  of  life  to  them  that  lay  hold  upon 
her,  and  happy  is  every  one  that  retaineth  her.'"" 

O  how  miserably  dark  is  the  mind  of  that  man  who 
lives  in  violation  of  the  Father's  laws ; — or  of  him 
who,  though  a  professor  of  religion,  declares  that  if  it 
were  not  for  his  fear  of  foreign  and  extraneous  punish- 
ments of  infinite  magnitude,  he  would  seek  his  greater 
good  in  a  life  of  sin  !  The  serpent  hath  deceived  him. 
Let  him  pull  the  scales  from  his  eyes,  just  to  take  one 
sober  look  at  the  condition  he  aspires  to.  An  apostate 
from  the  ivorship  of  God^  an  alien  from  cominunioii 
with  the  Father  of  mercies^  neglecting  the  means  of  self  - 
improvement^  practising  intemperance  and  self-defHe- 

bprov.  iii.  17,  18. 


58  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

Tiient^  living  in  envy  and  malice^  hateful^  false^  and 
treacherous  to  mankind.  Are  these  the  constituents 
of  the  wished-for  good?  They  are  deep,  throbbing, 
putrid  sores  to  human  hfe.  And  if  the  poor,  tempted 
soul  had  but  open  eyes  to  see,  he  would  start  back 
with  horror  from  the  moral  charnel  house  of  sin,  to 
which  his  deluded  steps  are  hastening.  Then,  too, 
on  tasting  the  bliss  which  pure  obedience  yields, 
would  his  spirit  glow  with  rapture  in  the  chant  of  the 
royal  poet's  song,  descriptive  of  the  moral  law : 

"  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the  soul ; 
The  testimony  of  the  Lord  is  sure,  making  wise  the  simple ; 
The  statutes  of  the  Lord  are  right,  rejoicing  the  heart ; 
The  commandment  of  the  Lord  is  pure,  enlightening  the  eyes ; 
The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  clean,  enduring  forever ; 
The  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true,  and  righteous  altogether. 
JMore  to  be  desired  are  they  than  gold,  yea,  than  much  fine  gold  j 
Sweeter  also  than  honey,  and  the  honey-comb. 
Moreover  by  them  is  thy  servant  warned ; 
And  in  keeping  of  them  there  is  great  reward."' 

This  truth  then  is  established; — that  the  law  of 
God  to  man,  is  the  law  of  a  Father,  instituted  in  wis- 
dom and  love,  for  the  children's  good.  From  this 
doctrine  who  dissents '?  None.  Then  none  will  refuse 
to  accompany  me  into  the  subject  of  the  succeeding 
chapter. 

'Ps.  xix.  7—11. 


CHAPTER    V. 

PENALTIES    OF    THE    LAW. 


SECTION   I. 

Nature  and  Design  of  the  Penalties. 

We  have  considered  the  law  of  God  to  man,  in  its 
wise  adaptedness  and  benevolent  design.  And  we 
have  seen  and  admired  the  reward  of  obedience,  which 
consists  in  all  those  physical  and  moral  advantages 
and  blessings,  in  all  that  healthfulness  and  happiness 
and  glory,  for  the  production  of  which  the  law  was 
given.  And  in  all  this  we  have  seen  renewed  and 
multiplied  manifestations  of  the  wisdom  and  goodness 
of  God,  and  his  kind  regard  for  his  children.  In  this 
subject,  indeed,  we  find  those  provisions  and  arrange- 
ments which  involve  the  highest  blessings  which  be- 
long to  the  inheritance  of  man.  For  without  the 
moral  nature,  which  renders  him  a  proper  subject  of 
law,  and  an  accountable  being,  subject  to  conscious 
approbation  or  guilt  according  to  his  conduct  in  rela- 
tion to  the  law,  he  could  not  have  been  capable  of 
those  high  and  sublime  enjoyments,  which  are  de- 
signed for  man  as  the  child  of  God. 

But  the  law  has  its  penalties  for  transgressors.  In 
connexion  with  the  very  first  instruction  given  to  man 
in  relation  to  his  course  of  duty,  he  was  admonished 
of  evil  as  the  fruit  of  disobedience.  And  now  it  is  the 
purpose  of  this  chapter  to  bring  out  into  a  clear  light 
the  nature  and  design  of  those  penal  sufferings. 

And  here  it  is  safe  to  presume,  in  the  outset,  that 
the  penalties  of  the  law  are  not  designed  to  thwart 


60  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

God's  purpose  in  the  law  itself.  Let  the  reader  dis- 
pense with  all  haste  now,  and  think  Avith  slow,  candid 
deliberation.  For  here  we  enter  upon  a  subject  which 
is  at  the  foundation  of  all  religious  controversy  in 
Christendom. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  the  penalty  of  the  law  is 
endless  punishment,  to  be  inflicted  in  a  future  immor- 
tal state  of  being ;  and  that  any  act  of  disobedience 
subjects  man,  by  the  rule  of  law,  to  an  eternity  of 
woe.  This  makes  the  penal  part  of  the  law  to  be  at 
war  with  the  spirit  and  design  of  the  law  itself.  God 
has  created  man  an  intelligent  and  moral  being,  and 
given  him  a  law  adapted  to  his  moral  constitution,  and 
kindly  designed,  as  we  have  seen,  for  the  production 
of  happiness.  He  has  also,  for  a  wise  purpose,  placed 
the  moral  nature  of  man  in  connexion  with  a  physical 
nature  of  such  appetites  and  passions  as  subject  him 
to  various  temptations  and  trials.  And  now,  the  doc- 
trine which  we  have  just  named,  represents,  that  God 
has  annexed  to  his  wise  and  good  law  a  penalty, 
which,  if  executed  according  to  its  true  intent  and 
meaning,  would,  upon  any  act  of  transgression,  cut 
man  at  once  and  forever  off  from  all  subsequent  privi- 
lege of  living  in  the  very  law  of  his  moral  nature,  and 
make  his  endless  existence  an  endless  evil !  The  mo- 
ment you  come  in  contact  with  this  item  of  theologica 
belief,  you  feel  a  chill  as  from  the  touch  of  death,  anf 
are  conscious  of  having  passed  out  of  the  path  of  thav 
true  "  Divinity,"  in  which  we  have  been  walking,  into 
the  invention  of  a  depraved  human  mind.  That  doc- 
trine which  makes  the  penalty  of  God's  law  to  coun- 
teract the  very  design  of  the  law  itself,  and  to  be  the 
instrument  of  infinite  ruin  to  his  children,  can  have  no 
foundation  in  the  works  and  ways  of  the  living  and 
true  God,  whose  wisdom  and  love  are  so  wonderfully 


NATURE    OF    THE    PENALTIES.  61 

evinced  in  the  plans  and  arrangements  of  his  crea- 
tion. 

Who  of  our  readers,  without  shutting  his  eyes,  and 
doing  violence  to  his  own  moral  sense,  can  dissent  from 
this  proposition, — to  wit;  that  as  the  penalties  are  the 
work  of  the  same  Lawgiver,  and  compose  a  part  of 
the  legal  system,  which  we  have  seen  to  be  so  wise 
and  good,  they  are  designed  to  promote  the  good  pur- 
pose of  the  law?  They  are  intended  to  be  preventive 
and  curative  in  their  operation,  conducing  to  obedience. 
Of  course,  punishment  is  not  designed  to  be  endless, 
because  it  is  not  an  ultimate  end  of  the  Divine  admin- 
istration, but  a  means,  looking  always  to  an  end  in 
correction. 

This  wise  penal  arrangement  of  the  moral  law  bears 
a  striking  analogy  with  a  corresponding  feature  in  the 
law  of  physical  nature.  There  is  an  infraction  of  the 
law  of  physical  health,  by  improper  diet,  or  by  a 
wound  upon  the  body.  This  infraction  is  followed  by 
physical  pain.  The  knowledge  of  the  connexion  be- 
tween such  infraction  and  the  consequent  pain,  tends 
to  put  men  on  their  guard  against  the  former ;  and  the 
suffering  of  the  pain  upon  the  occurrence  of  the  infrac- 
tion, stimulates  to  the  application  of  remedies.  So  far 
then  the  government  of  God  is  in  harmony  with  itself, 
and  with  all  the  harmonious  Divine  perfections.  And 
so  we  shall  find  a  beautiful  harmony  running  through 
all  parts  and  principles  of  the  entire  body  of  "  CHRIS- 
TIAN DIVINITY." 

By  an  appeal  to  the  Scriptures,  we  shall  find  the 
sentiment  established  by  authority,  to  which  the  spirit 
of  the  law  itself  has  driven  us,  touching  the  character 
of  its  penalties.  For  a  sample  of  the  Scripture  ex- 
positions of  the  design  of  punishment,  see  Lev.  xxvi. 
6 


62  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

14,  and  onward.  ''But  if  ye  will  not  hearken  unto 
me,  and  will  not  do  all  these  commandments ;  and  if 

ye  despise  my  statutes, I  also  will  do  this  unto 

you ;  I  will  even  appoint  over  you  terror,  consumption, 
and  the  burning  ague,  that  shall  consume  the  eyes, 
and  cause  sorrow  of  heart :  and  ye  shall  sow  your 
seed  in  vain,  for  your  enemies  shall  eat  it." 

''  A?id  if  ye  loill  not  yet  for  all  this  hearken  unto  me^ 
then  I  will  punish  you  yet  seven  times  more  for  your 
sins.  I  will  break  the  pride  of  your  power ;  and  I  will 
make  your  heaven  as  iron,  and  your  earth  as  brass. 
And  your  strength  shall  be  spent  in  vain;  for  your 
land  shall  not  yield  her  increase,  neither  shall  the  trees 
of  the  field  yield  their  fruits."     =^     *     * 

'•^  And  if  ye  loill  not  he  reformed  by  me  by  these 
things^  but  loill  walk  contrary  unto  me,  then  I  will  also 
walk  contrary  unto  you,  and  will  punish  you  yet  seven 
times  for  your  sins,"  &c. 

Here  the  sentiment  is  declared,  and  repeated  over 
and  over,  that  the  sole  object  in  view  by  all  these  in- 
flictions of  punishment  was  the  ameridment  of  the 
people.  Punishment  after  punishment  was  to  be 
added,  in  case  they  would  not  be  humbled  and  re- 
formed ;  and  even  when  the  last  degree  of  punishment 
should  be  inflicted,  and  they  should  be  broken  up  as  a 
nation,  and  scattered  abroad  and  trodden  under  foot 
of  all  nations,  and  they  should  pine  away  in  their 
iniquities  in  their  enemies'  lands,  it  is  added,  (v.  40,) 
"If  they  shall  confess  their  iniquity,  and  the  iniquity 
of  their  fathers ; — if  then,  their  uncircumcised  hearts  be 
humbled,  and  they  then  accept  the  punishment  of 
their  iniquity;    then  will  I  remember  my  covenant 

with  Jacob, I  will  not  cast  them  away  to  destroy 

them  utterly, for  I  am  the  Lord  their  God." 


DESIGN    OF    THE    PENALTIES.  63 

111  a  case  where  the  people  had  become  bhnd  and 
stupid  in  their  sins  and  sufferings,  and  were  tending 
to  a  state  of  desperation,  the  Lord  said  by  his  prophet, 
(Isa.  i.  5,)  '-Why  should  ye  be  stricken  any  more? 
Ye  will  revolt  more  and  more ;  the  whole  head  is  sick 
and  the  whole  heart  is  faint."  Here  we  have  the  sen- 
timent, as  belonging  to  the  principle  of  the  Divine 
administration,  that  it  is  not  meet  that  punishment 
should  be  inflicted  beyond  the  point  of  its  tendency  to 
good.  And  in  the  succeeding  part  of  the  chapter  last 
referred  to,  a  different  moral  process  is  graciously  prom- 
ised, by  which  to  affect  the  people's  hearts  with  a  sense 
of  the  Divine  goodness,  and  of  their  own  ingratitude 
and  folly,  and  to  turn  them  from  their  evil  ways. 

The  cases  which  we  have  now  quoted  refer  rather 
to  Israel  in  their  national  capacity ;  but  they  elucidate 
the  principle  on  which  punishment  is  administered 
in  all  cases,  upon  nations  and  individuals.  Though 
God  made  a  special  revelation  of  the  law  of  duty  and 
happiness  to  Israel,  as  he  did  not  at  the  same  time  to 
other  nations,  yet  he  favored  them  all  with  such  ca- 
pacities and  means  of  knowledge  as  to  their  primary 
duties,  that  they  were  not  without  law.  As  the 
apostle  says,  "they  are  a  law  unto  themselves, — 
which  shew  the  work  of  the  law  written  in  their 
hearts."^  And  the  same  Father  is  their  Maker,  Law- 
giver and  Judge.  Though  he  is,  with  reference  to  a 
special  covenant  made  for  a  wise  purpose  with  Israel, 
often  called  the  God  of  Israel^  yet  the  Scriptures  do 
not  represent  him  as  a  titular  deity.  He  is  expressly 
declared  to  be  the  God  of  the  whole  earth  ;^  the  God 
of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh ;''  the  Creator  of  the  heavens 
and   the  earth,   and  all  things  in  them;*^  the  Judge 

a  Rom.  ii.  14,  15.  ^  Isa.  liv.  5. 

c  Num.  xvi.  22.  d  Gen.  i.    Acts  xvii.  24. 


64  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

among  the  nations.^  And  with  regard  to  the  primitive 
dispensations  of  his  law  over  all  men,  they  are  of  the 
same  benevolent  character  as  those  described  as  hav- 
ing primary  reference  to  Israel.  The  royal  psalmist, 
in  view  of  Jehovah's  administration  of  law  in  general, 
was  inspired  to  sing,  "Also  mi  to  thee,  O  Lord,  be- 
longeth  mercy,  for  thou  renderest  unto  every  man 
according  to  his  work."*^  So  clearly  did  the  psalmist 
view  the  penalties  of  the  law  to  be  merciful  in  their 
spirit  and  design.  If  he  had  been  contemplating  the 
execution  of  such  relentless  vengeance  as  should  make 
countless  millions  of  God's  children  curse  him,  and 
curse  their  own  existence,  howling  eternity  away  in 
unavailing  wishes  to  sink  back  into  the  quiet  of  non- 
existence— surely  the  vision  would  not  have  suggested 
the  motions  of  infinite  mercy.  In  vain  do  we  look 
for  such  pictures  in  the  word  of  God. 

In  relation  to  the  design  of  panishment,  the  Scrip- 
tures employ  even  more  expressive  and  affecting  de- 
scriptions than  those  already  adduced.  Wisdom  says, 
in  her  instructions  to  the  erring  children  of  men, 
"My  son,  despise  not  the  chastening  of  the  Lord; 
neither  be  weary  of  his  correction :  for  whom  the 
Lord  loveth  he  correcteth,  even  as  a  father  the  son  in 
whom  he  delighteth."'  And  St.  Paul  says  to  the  He- 
brews, (xii.  5,  6,)  "And  ye  have  forgotten  the  exhor- 
tation which  speaketh  unto  you  as  unto  children,  My 
son,  despise  not  the  chastening  of  the  Lord,  nor  faint 
when  thou  art  rebuked  of  him :  for  whom  the  Lord 
loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son  whom 
he  receiveth."  In  the  light  of  this  principle,  the  pro- 
phet Jeremiah,  bewailing  the  most  direful  calamities 
of  his  apostate  and  cast-off  people,   submissively  ex- 

«  Ps.  xcvi.  f  Ps.  Ixii.  12.  g  Prov.  iii.  11,  12. 


PENALTIES    OF    THE    LAW.  65 

claims,  "Wherefore  doth  a  living  man  complain,  a 
man  for  the  punishment  of  his  sins  7  Let  us  search 
and  try  our  ways,  and  turn  again  to  the  Lord.'"" 
[Surely  the  assertion,  ichich  is  often  heard  fro7n  cer- 
tain quarters^  that  this  life  is  not  a  state  of  retribution, 
is  as  false  as  the  Bible  is  trne.]  Here  also,  as  through- 
out the  Bible,  the  truth  shines  out  in  cloudless  noon- 
light,  that  while  the  law  subjects  transgressors  to 
adequate  punishment,  it  administers  its  penalties  upon 
such  a  principle,  that  no  man  on  earth  has  occasion 
to  complain  of  it.  For  it  is  designed  to  humble  and 
correct  the  sufferers. 

With  regard  to  the  nature  or  consistence  of  pun- 
ishment, it  is  represented  in  the  Scriptures  as  consist- 
ing of  those  evils,  in  kind  and  degree,  which  legiti- 
mately appertain  to  the  kind  and  degree  of  sins.  It 
involves  the  deprivation  of  those  blessings  which 
are  abused,  and  the  suffering  of  those  positive  evils 
which  are  connected  with  the  positive  wrongs.  If  a 
person  neglects  the  cultivation  of  his  mind,  his  life  is 
l)arren  of  the  amiable  graces  and  rich  enjoyments  of 
good  mental  culture.  If  he  abuses  the  social  and  do- 
mestic relations,  those  relations  become  so  many  sores 
and  annoyances  to  him,  as  they  should  be  sources  of 
pleasure.  If  he  violates  any  of  the  laws  of  his  nature, 
those  laws,  respectively,  will  take  their  appropriate 
vengeance  upon  him.  And  these  appropriate  evils  are 
urged  upon  human  consideration,  by  the  inspired 
teachers,  as  the  proper  and  e very-day  motives,  so  far 
as  the  fear  of  evil  is  designed  to  furnish  motives,  for 
restraint,  self-government,  and  virtuous  living. 

The  wise  man,  for  instance,  in  dissuading  men  from 
the  violation  of  the  law  of  temperance,  expostulates 

bT.am.  iii.  39,40. 

6* 


66  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

thus:  ''Who  hath  woe?  who  hath  sorrow 7  who  hath 
contentions?  who  hath  babbhng?  who  hath  wounds 
without  cause  ?  who  hath  redness  of  eyes  7  They  that 
tarry  long  at  the  wine ;  they  that  go  to  seek  mixed 
wine.  Look  not  thou  upon  the  wine  when  it  is  red, 
when  it  giveth  his  color  in  the  cup,  when  it  moveth 
itself  aright.  At  last  it  biteth  like  a  serpent  and  sting- 
eth  like  an  adder."'  And  in  relation  to  the  trans- 
gression of  the  law  of  personal  chastity,  besides  those 
burning  plagues  which  must  constantly  consume  the 
heart,  he  gives  a  startling  picture  of  the  dreadful  phys- 
ical result  if  seasonable  repentance  is  not  induced — 
"  And  thou  mourn  at  the  last,  when  thy  flesh  and  thy 
body  are  consumed."  J 

This  legitimate  mode  of  punishment,  as  a  general 
rule,  is  very  comprehensively  expressed  by  the  inspired 
penman,  thus :  "  Thine  own  wickedness  shall  correct 
thee,  and  thy  backslidings  shall  reprove  thee."  ^  "  His 
own  iniquities  shall  take  the  wicked  himself,  and  he 
shall  be  holden  with  the  cords  of  his  sins."'  "The 
soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die.  The  son  shall  not  bear 
the  iniquity  of  the  father ;  neither  shall  the  father  bear 
the  iniquity  of  the  son ;  the  righteousness  of  the  righ- 
teous shall  be  upon  him,  and  the  wickedness  of  the 
wicked  shall  be  upon  him.  But  if  the  wicked  will 
turn  from  all  his  sins  that  he  hath  committed,  and 
keep  all  my  statutes,  and  do  that  which  is  lawful  and 
right,  he  shall  surely  live,  he  shall  not  die.  '^  =^  In 
his  righteousness  that  he  hath  done  he  shall  live.  But 
when  the  righteous  turneth  away  from  his  righteous- 
ness and  committeth  iniquity,  *  ^  in  his  trespass  that 

i  Prov.  xxiii.  29—32.  J  Prov.  v,  11. 

k  Jer.  ii.  19.  '  Prov.  v.  22. 


NATURE    OF    THE    PENALTIES.  67 

he  hath  trespassed,  and  m  his  sin  that  he  hath  sinned, 
in  them  shall  he  die.""" 

How  clearly  is  the  sentiment  here  expressed,  that  if 
men  transgress  the  law,  its  penalty  is  unavoidable, 
and  is  comprised  in  the  evils  in  which  the  transgres- 
sions involve  them.  The  death  here  spoken  of  as  the 
wages  of  sin,  is  not  an  extraneous  punishment  to  be 
inflicted  in  another  world  in  revenge  for  sins  in  this. 
It  is  a  deprivation  of  good,  suffered  in  sin.  '-^  I?i  his 
sin  that  he  hath  sinned,  he  shall  die."  Yes,  and  such 
is  this  death,  that  he  who  has  been  wicked  a  part  of 
his  life  shall  have  suffered  it  in  his  sin, — and  being 
reformed,  shall  be  free  from  it; — for  " i7i  his  righteous- 
ness that  he  doeth  he  shall  live  J  ^ 

The  New  Testament  writers  explain  this  penal 
death  in  sin,  with  much  precision.  "What  fruit  had 
ye  in  those  things  whereof  ye  are  now  ashamed  ?  for 
the  end  (i.  e.  the  fruit  which  they  had  received)  of 
these  things  is  death.""  "  For  to  be  carnally  minded 
is  death.  =^  *  If  ye  live  after  the  flesh  ye  shall 
die."°  "  Among  whom  also  we  all  had  our  conversa- 
tion in  times  past,  in  the  lusts  of  ttie  flesh,  fulfilling 
the  desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind ;  and  were  by 
nature  the  children  of  wrath,  even  as  others."  ^  "  You 
hath  he  quickened,  who  were  dead  in  trespasses  and 
in  sins."''  "We  know  that  we  have  passed  from 
death  unto  life,  because  we  love  the  brethren.  He 
that  loveth  not  his  brother  abideth  in  death."'  And 
this  is  the  description  of  the  penalty  revealed  to  our 
first  progenitors.  "  In  the  day  thou  eatest  thereof,  (or 
sinnest.)  thou  shalt  surely  die."" 

Jesus  Christ,  the  rehgious  teacher's  model  of  moral 

™  Ezek.  xviii.  20—22.  ^  Rom.  vi.  21.  «  Rom.  viii.  6,  13. 

PEph.  ii.  3.  q  Eph.  ii.  1  ^  i  John  iii.  14.  «  Qgn.  ii.  17. 


68  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

faithfulness,  was  likewise  in  the  familiar  liabit  of 
warning  mankind  against  the  manner  of  sins  which 
he  saw  them  inclined  to,  by  consideration  of  those 
penalties  in  particular,  to  which  their  darling  sins  ex- 
posed them.  When  he  healed  the  impotent  man,  who 
it  seems  had  brought  disease  upon  himself  by  his  own 
misdeeds,  he  kindly  said  unto  him,  "  Sin  no  more,  lest 
a  worse  thing  come  unto  thee.*'^  The  idea  is,  that  if 
he  should  return  to  his  evil  practices,  his  troubles  too 
would  return  upon  him,  even  with  -increased  severity. 
But  Vv^hen  he  addressed  the  self-righteous  Scribes  and 
Pharisees,  whose  leading  sins  were  irreverence^  self- 
ishness, pride,  turbulence  and  oppression,  he  grasped 
and  laid  before  them  the  sufferings  which  he  saw  im- 
pending over  theh^  manner  of  moral  corruptness.  At 
one  time  some  of  them  came  and  told  him  of  the  Gali- 
leans whose  blood  Pilate  mingled  with  their  sacrifices. 
And  Jesus  answering  said  unto  them,  ^'Suppose  ye 
that  these  Galileans  were  sinners  above  all  the  Gali- 
leans, because  they  suffered  such  things?  I  tell  you, 
nay  :  but  except  ye  repent  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish. 
Or  those  eighteen  upon  whom  the  tower  of  Siloam  fell, 
and  slew  them,  think  ye  that  they  were  sinners  above 
all  men  that  dwelt  in  Jerusalem?  I  tell  you,  nay: 
but  except  ye  repent  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."" 

Now  it  is  the  practice  of  some  religious  teachers  to 
take  this  particular  language  of  Jesus,  which  he  ap- 
plied to  a  particular  people  on  a  special  occasion,  with 
reference  to  a  peculiar  exposure  of  theirs,  and  apply 
it  indiscriminately  to  all.  "Ye  shall  all  llkeioise 
perish."  Perish  how?  and  Z/Z:ewhom?  Like  those 
upon  whom  the  tower  of  Siloam  fell,  and  whose  blood 
Pilate  mingled  with  their  sacrifices.     How  miserably 

I  John  vi.  14.  "  laike  xii.  1 — 5, 


PENALTIES    OF    THE    LAW.  69 

qualified  then  to  "rightly  divide  the  word  of  truth," 
are  those  who  stand  up  and  harangue  the  virtuous 
and  pure,  whom  the  preacher  would  hardly  accuse 
of  a  fault,  except,  perhaps,  in  respect  to  their  form  of 
faith,  and  menace  them  with  the  saying,  "  Except  ye 
repent  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."  What  reason 
would  they  give  for  threatening  their  friends,  for  some 
ordinary  errors,  with  destruction  like  that  inflicted 
upon  the  Galileans,  when  Pilate  slew  them  around  the 
altar  upon  which  they  were  laying  their  offerings? 
None,  surely,  but  that  they  knew  not  whereof  they 
affirmed.  But  with  regard  to  the  people  to  whom 
Jesus  applied  this  warning,  thousands  and  thousands 
of  them  did  perish  by  the  fall  of  towers  and  walls,  and 
by  fire  and  sword,  when  they  had  come  up  to  the  great 
religious  sacrifice  in  Jerusalem.  And  they  perished  in 
their  national  capacity  under  these  calamities.  Ac- 
cordingly they  did  perish  likewise  as  did  those  upon 
whom  the  tower  of  Siloam  fell,  and  whose  blood 
Pilate  mingled  with  their  sacrifices.  And  Jesus, 
knowing  their  real  exposure,  gave  them  just  and  ap- 
propriate warning  in  the  words  we  have  quoted. 
What  a  beauty  and  force  there  would  be  in  the  moral 
teachings  and  warnings  of  the  pulpit,  if  the  teachers 
would  all  learn  wisdom  from  the  Scriptures. 

For  another  instructive  specimen  of  the  inspired 
teachings  of  legal  penalties,  I  will  refer  the  reader  to 
St.  Paul.  In  urging  npon  his  brethren  the  most  im- 
pressive warnings  against  the  vices  to  which  they 
were  most  likely  to  be  tempted,  he  arrays  before  them 
a  catalogue  of  striking  examples.  ''  But  with  many 
of  them  (the  ancient  Hebrews)  God  was  not  well 
pleased;  for  they  were  overthrown  in  the  wilder- 
ness.    Now  these  things  were   our  examples,  to  the 


70  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

intent  we  should  not  lust  after  evil  things  as  they 
also  lusted.  Neither  be  ye  idolaters,  as  were  some  of 
them.  *  ^  Neither  let  us  commit  fornication,  as  some 
of  them  committed,  and  fell  in  one  day  three  and 
twenty  thousand.  Neither  let  us  tempt  Christ,  as 
some  of  them  also  tempted,  and  were  destroyed  of  ser- 
pents. Neither  murmur  ye,  as  some  of  them  also  mur- 
mured, and  were  destroyed  of  the  destroyer," — i.  e.  the 
plague.  "Now  all  these  things  happened  unto  them 
for  ensamples  :  and  they  are  written  for  our  admonition, 
upon  whom  the  ends  of  the  Avorld  {ciioiion^  ages)  are 
come  "^ 

When  we  witness  these  earnest  and  appropriate 
Scripture  teachings,  in  relation  to  the  real  evils  of  sin, 
the  legitimate  penalties  of  God's  law,  we  deplore  the 
defection  of  the  middle  and  modern  ages.  We  see  a  host 
of  teachers,  grave  and  gay,  who  have  lost  sight  of  all 
these  sober  realities,  and  are  diverting  the  minds  of 
the  people  with  off-hand  declamation  of  fabulous  ter- 
rors. "To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony;  if  they 
speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because  there  is 
no  light  in  them.'"'' 

Some  of  the  punishments  enumerated  in  cases  which 
we  have  noticed,  were  inflicted  more  immediately  by 
the  hand  of  God  than  punishments  usually  are;  but 
these  were  cases  Vvdiere  the  people  had  sinned  against 
Divine  requirements  more  specially  revealed  to  them, — 
and  they  were  designed  also  to  demonstrate  that  judg- 
ment is  of  the  Lord,  and  we  are  amenable  to  him ; 
that  "  though  hand  join  in  hand,  the  wicked  shall  not 
be  unpunished." 

The  reader  has  now  been  led  into  a  view  of  the 
Scripture  teachings  on  the  subject  sufficiently  exten- 

V  1  Cor.  X.  5—11.  ^Isa.  viii.  20. 


PENALTIES    OF    THE    LAW.  71 

sive  to  settle  the  question  as  to  the  nature  and  design 
of  punishment  denounced  by  the  law,  and  its  harmony 
with  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  law  itself.  Yet 
some  may  urge  that  there  are  terms  employed  to  ex- 
press the  punishment  of  sin,  and  others  to  qualify  it, 
which  contradict  this  philosophical  and  Bible  view  of 
it,  and  prove  it  to  be  endless.  Eet  there  be  no  haste 
here.  He  who  would  make  a  qualifying  word  prove 
the  endlessness  of  punishment,  may  make  it  prove  none 
at  all ;  for  he  may  thus  destroy  the  Bible  testimony. 
We  have  seen  what  the  Scriptures  prove  of  the  perfec- 
tions of  the  Creator,  and  of  the  wise  and  good  design 
of  his  laws  to  his  children,  and  of  the  accordant  spirit 
and  purpose  of  the  annexed  penalties.  Thus  much  is 
established,  not  by  a  doubtful  criticism  of  a  word,  but 
by  the  plain  every-day  descriptions  of  these  things 
themselves,  in  their  nature,  and  their  relations  to  one 
another.  And  now  it  must  be  a  rash  hand  which 
would  essay,  by  a  doubtful  word,  to  break  up  the  entire 
concurrent  force  of  the  Divine  nature  and  the  primary 
and  common  teachings  of  the  revealed  Word. 

To  illustrate,  I  will  present  a  brief  summary  from 
the  book  of  the  law,  of  its  severest  penalties.  It  is  a 
sort  of  judicial  summary  made  out  by  the  Lawgiver 
himself,  declaring  that,  if  any  man,  or  woman,  or 
family,  or  tribe  of  Israel,  should  forsake  the  Lord  God 
of  their  fathers,  "  The  Lord  shall  separate  him  unto 
evil  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel,  according  to  all  the 
curses  of  the  covenant  that  are  written  in  this  book  of 
the  law.  So  that  the  generation  to  com.e  of  your 
children,  that  shall  rise  up  after  you,  and  the  strangers 
that  shall  come  from  a  far  land,  shall  say,  when  they 
see  the  plagues  of  that  land,  and  the  sicknesses  which 
the  Lord  hath  laid  upon  it^  *^  ^  ^  even  all  nations 


72  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

shall  say.  Wherefore  hath  the  Lord  done  thus  unto 
this  land?  What  meaneth  the  heat  of  this  great 
anger?  Then  men  shall  say,  Because  they  have  for- 
saken the  covenant  of  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers, 
*  *  *  *  and  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled 
against  this  land,  to  bring  upon  it  all  the  curses  that 
are  written  in  this  book."  * 

Here  we  have  the  direct  and  explicit  declaration  of  the 
book  of  the  law  itself,  that  such  is  the  amount  of  all  the 
curses,  all  the  punishments,  written  in  it,  that  their  full 
execution  should  be  witnessed  by  him  who  should  be- 
hold the  miseries  of  the  transgressors  in  the  land  of 
their  habitation.  The  meaning  in  this  case  is  express, 
explanatory,  and  unmistakable.  He,  therefore,  who  un- 
dertakes to  prove  from  some  qualifying  term  elsewhere 
applied  to  punishment,  that  the  proper  curse  or  pen- 
alty of  the  revealed  law  is  endless  suffering  in  the 
future  world,  virtually  undertakes  to  prove  that  the 
testimony  just  quoted  from  the  law  is  false.  It  cannot 
be  pretended  that  by  such  an  effort  he  only  charges 
me  with  misconstruing  the  law.  There  is  no  con- 
struction of  mine  in  the  case.  The  passage  quoted 
cannot  be  explained ;  for  it  stands  itself  an  explanation 
of  the  legal  penalties.  It  distinctly  avers  that  in 
pouring  upon  the  people  those  plagues  and  sicknesses 
which  should  desolate  their  land,  the  Lord  would 
bring  upon  them  all  the  curses  written  in  the  book  of 
the  law. 

SECTION  II. 

Controverted    Terms,    Designating   and    Qualifying 
Punishment. 
And  now  what  are  the  terms,  designating  and  quali- 
fying punishment  in  other  cases,  which  indicate  any 

»Deut.  xxix.  18—28. 


PENALTIES    OF    THE    LAW.  TS- 

new  system  of  Divine  retribution,  or  change  the  pres- 
ent Hght  of  the  subject  ?  It  will  be  answered  that  the 
descriptive  term  referred  to  is  hell^  and  the  qualifying 
term  is  everlasting  or  eternal.  To  these,  then,  we  will 
attend,  briefly,  and  with  care. 

1.  The  word  hell  This  is  in  the  original  Hebrew, 
sheol^  and  has  its  meaning  well  expressed  in  the  Sep- 
tuagint,  by  the  Greek  hades.  This  latter  word  is 
defined  by  the  lexicons  to  signify  literally  unseen, 
dark^  covered^  hidden.  And  it  is  accordingly  applied  to 
the  state  of  the  dead,  as  denoting  it  to  be  an  unseen 
state.  To  this  word,  in  its  literal  meaning,  the  Eng- 
lisli,  or  rather  Saxon  word,  hell^  exactly  corresponded 
in  its  former  usage.  Dr.  Parkhurst  says,  that  in  some 
of  the  eastern,  and  especially  in  the  western  counties 
in  England,  the  word  is  used  in  that  primitive  sense 
now.  '^  To  liele  over  a  thing  is  to  cover  it.'"^  Hence 
it  is  seen  that  this  word  literally  expresses  nothing  in 
opposition  to  the  teachings  of  the  law,  before  con- 
sidered, in  relation  to  its  penalties.  The  use  of  the 
word  hell  for  punishment,  would  most  literally  indicate 
a  state  of  darkness,  or  at  most  the  destruction  of  life. 

We  grant,  however,  that  a  word  may  be  used  in 
some  other  than  its  primary  and  literal  meaning.  It 
may  be  used  figuratively.  But  you  must  be  careful 
how  you  force  a  figurative  construction  upon  a  word, 
which  shall  make  it  contradict  the  most  positive  and 
literal  doctrines  of  the  Bible.  Figurative  passages 
cannot  be  taken  for  new  revelations,  but  only  for  em- 
bellishments and  illustrations  of  known  truth.  Con- 
sequently, we  must  construe  a  figurative  passage  in 
relation  to  a  given  subject,  in  accordance  with  the 

y  Parkhurst's  Gr.  and  Eng.  Lex,  on  kades.    See  also,  to  the  same  purpcwt, 
Dr.  A.  Clark's  Commentarv,  on  Matt.  xi.  23. 
7 


74  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

general  scope  of  the  Divine  testimony  on  that  subject^ 
taking  into  consideration  the  immediate  occasion  on 
which  it  is  spoken  or  written,  and  following  out  the 
figure  in  its  most  natural  bearing  upon  the  subject. 

And  now,  that  the  bearing  of  this  term  upon  the  pen- 
alties of  the  law  may  be  fully  understood,  I  will  present 
the  reader  with  all  the  cases  of  its  occurrence  in  the 
books  of  the  law,  or  the  five  books  of  Moses.  The 
first  instance  of  the  use  of  this  word  in  the  Bible,  is  in 
Jacob's  lamentation  for  the  loss  of  his  son  Joseph.  ''I 
will  go  down  into  the  grave,  {hades,)  unto  my  son 
mourning."  The  same  was  repeated  by  Judah,  in  his 
eloquent  plea  for  Benjamin  before  Joseph  in  Egypt.^ 
None  will  say  that  the  word  is  used  here  for  a  state 
of  endless  misery, — for  surely  Jacob  did  not  expect  to 
go  into  such  a  state,  and  to  find  his  beloved  Joseph 
there.  Neither  did  he  mean  by  it  any  particular  grave 
or  sepulchre ;  for  he  did  not  suppose  that  Joseph  was 
buried  in  a  grave,  believing  that  he  was  devoured  of 
an  evil  beast.  He  meant  by  it  the  unseen  state  of 
death. 

The  only  other  case  of  the  use  of  this  word  in  the 
Pentateuch,  is  in  Deut.  xxxii.  22.  "For  a  fire  is 
kindled  in  mine  anger,  and  it  shall  burn  to  the  lowest 
hell,  and  shall  consume  the  earth  with  her  increase,  and 
set  on  fire  the  foundations  of  the  mountains."  It  reads 
on  as  follows  : — "I  will  heap  mischiefs  upon  them;  I 
will  spend  mine  arrows  upon  them.  They  shall  be 
burnt  with  hunger,  and  devoured  with  burning  heat, 
and  with  bitter  destruction.  *  ^  The  sword  without 
and  terror  within,  shall  destroy  both  the  young  man 
and  maiden,"  &c.  This,  therefore,  is  the  revelation 
of  no  new  description  of  penalty,  but  a  warning  given 

»Gen.  xxxvii.  35 ;  xlii.  38  ;  xliv.  29,  31. 


WORDS    DESIGNATING   PUNISHMENT.  75 

to  the  people,  on  account  of  idolatry,  of  their  exposure 
to  just  such  calamities  as  we  have  before  seen  were 
denounced  upon  apostates  in  the  book  of  the  law.  By 
the  lowest  heU  in  this  case,  is  obviously  meant  the  darkest 
and  deepest  hiding  places  of  the  earth.  The  threat- 
ened calamities  should  reach  them,  though  they  might 
hide  in  the  deepest  caverns,  and  dig  into  the  bottoms 
of  the  mountains.  ''A  fire  is  kindled  in  mine  anger, 
and  it  shall  burn  to  the  lowest  Jmdes^  and  shall  con- 
sume the  earth  with  her  increase,  and  shall  set  on  fire 
the  foundations  of  tJie  mountains.'''' 

A  similar  description  of  an  unescapabk  calamity  is 
given  by  the  prophet  Amos,  (ix.  2.)  "  Though  they 
dig  into  hell,  thence  shall  mine  hand  take  them."  No 
one  will  suppose  that  the  people  would  think  of  dig- 
ging into  a  place  of  endless,  unmitigated  torment,  to 
escape  danger,  nor  that  the  Lord  would  take  them  out 
of  such  a  place  to  punish  them.  The  word  hades  is 
used  in  this  place,  as  in  that  last  quoted  from  Moses, 
according  to  its  literal  meaning,  for  a  dark  secret  hid- 
ing place.  ''Though  they  dig  into  hades ^  thence 
shall  my  hand  take  them ;  though  they  climb  up  to 
heaven,  thence  will  I  bring  them  down.  And  though 
they  hide  themselves  in  the  top  of  Carmel,  I  will 
search  and  take  them  out  thence ;  and  though  they  be 
hid  from  my  sight  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  thence  will 
I  command  the  serpent,  and  he  shall  bite  them." 
Thus  does  the  connexion  render  it  plain  that  a  tempo- 
ral judgment  is  the  subject  of  this  prophecy,  and  that 
the  strong  language  employed  is  poetically  descriptive 
of  its  unavoidable  prevalence. 

I  have  gone  out  of  the  Pentateuch  for  this  quota- 
tion, barely  for  an  illustration.  The  reader  has  now 
placed  before  him  all  the  instances  of  the  use  of  the 


"^6  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

word  hades^  or  hell,  in  all  the  books  of  the  law.  And 
none  can  fail  to  see  that  its  use  neither  teaches  nor 
intimates  any  sentiment  in  the  least  at  variance  with 
the  general  teachings  of  the  law  in  relation  to  its  pen- 
alties. 

|l5=»  Tlien  no  different  doctrine  on  the  subject  of  pun- 
ishment will  he  found  in  the  Old  Testament.  ^^  To 
this  position  I  call  the  attention  of  the  Christian  world. 
The  Pentateuch  contains  the  entire  legal  covenant,  the 
revelation  of  the  moral  law  and  the  institution  of  the 
ceremonial,  with  the  appropriate  penalties.  The  entire 
system  of  God's  revelation  to  his  earthly  children  is 
comprised  in  two  parts,  the  Icno  and  the  gospel.  ''The 
law  was  given  by  Moses,  but  grace  and  truth  came  by 
Jesus  Christ.""  And  the  historical  and  prophetic 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  contain  no  new  legal  cov- 
enant, no  new  principles  of  law,  or  of  judgment.  The 
prophets  were  teachers  and  watchmen  unto  the  house 
of  Israel,  to  teach  them  out  of  the  law,  and  to  warn 
them,  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord,  of  any  im- 
pending judgments.  But  the  judgments  of  which  the 
prophets  gave  warning,  were  those  which  should  be 
founded  upoivthe  principles  of  the  revealed  law,  ac- 
cording to  the  curses  ^vritten  in  that  book.  I,  there- 
fore, call  upon  all  Christians  to  reflect,  that  as  they 
will  not  pretend  that  endless  punishment  is  a  penalty 
revealed  in  the  law  of  Moses,  they  carmot  find  it  in  any 
of  the  prophetic  narrative/or  warnings  of  judgment  in 
the  administration  of  the  law.  And  if  they  force  an 
unnecessary  meaning  upon  a  disputed  word  to  make 
out  an  illegal  penalty.^  they  do  violence  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  to  the  honor  of  God. 

In  what  covenant^  then^  shall  toe  find  the  penalty  of 

a  John  i.  17. 


PENALTIES    OF    THE    LAW.  7T 

endless  torment?  The  only  other  covenant  is  the 
gospel;  but  this  is  the  covenant  of  grace.  It  does  not 
open  unheard-of  stores  of  wrath  and  vengeance  for 
feeble  mortals,  but  it  reveals  a  stupendous  moral  sys- 
tem of  divine  operation,  by  which  even  to  save  man- 
kind from  sin  itself,  that  they  may  thus  be  saved  from 
the  condemnation  of  the  law.  Accordingly,  the  word 
of  God,  setting  forth  the  terms  of  the  second  covenant, 
says,  "But  now  hath  he  (Christ)  obtained  a  more  ex- 
cellent ministry,  by  how  much  also  he  is  the  mediator 
of  a  better  covenant,  which  was  established  upon 
better  promises.  *  *  For  this  is  the  covenant  that  I 
will  make  with  the  house  of  Israel  after  those  days, 
saith  the  Lord ;  I  will  put  my  laws  into  their  minds, 
and  write  them  in  their  hearts.  *  *  All  shall  know 
me,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest.  For  I  will  be  mer- 
ciful to  their  unrighteousness,  and  their  sins  and  ini- 
quities will  I  remember  no  more.'"'  So,  while  the 
law  commands  men  to  be  holy,  and  denounces  pun- 
ishment upon  disobedience,  the  gospel  undertakes,  by 
the  merciful  influences  of  truth  and  grace,  to  inspire 
men  with  the  love  of  holiness,  thus  to  fulfil  the  law  in 
their  hearts.  Hence,  in  the  reception  of  this  covenant 
an  apostle  says,  "  For  God  hath  not  given  us  the  spirit 
of  fear;  but  of  power,  and  of  love,  and  of  a  sound 
mind.""'  And  again;  "For  ye  are  not  come  unto  the 
mount  that  might  be  touched,  and  that  burned  with 
fire,  nor  unto  blackness,  and  darkness,  and  tempest, 
and  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  and  the  voice  of  words ; 
which  voice  they  that  heard  intreated  that  the  word 
should  not  be  spoken  to  them  any  more ;  ^  *  *  But 
ye  are  come  unto  mount  Zion,  and  unto  the  city  of  the 
living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem."*^ 

b  Heb.  viii.  &— 12.  <=  2  Tim.  i.  7.  ^  Heb.  xii.  18—22. 

7# 


78  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

In  these  cases,  and  in  all  cases  of  contrast  between 
the  two  covenants,  the  second  is  described  as  having 
less  of  the  ingredient  of  fear  in  it  than  the  first. 
Therefore  nothing  can  be  more  safely  and  confidently- 
concluded,  than  that,  while  the  first,  or  legal  covenant, 
includes  no  penalty  of  endless  punishment,  the  second 
or  gospel  covenant  has  no  such  penalty,  of  course. 
The  legal  covenant  was  designed  in  a  particular 
manner  to  influence  human  conduct  by  the  considera- 
tion of  rewards  and  punishments.  The  gospel  cove- 
nant, though  it  does  not  abrogate  the  doctrine  of 
rewards  and  punishments,  does  specially,  in  as  far  as 
it  differs  from  the  former,  provide  other  and  higher 
influences.  He,  therefore,  who  will  undertake,  by  the 
criticism  of  a  word^  to  palm  upon  the  covenant  of 
grace  the  penalty  of  endless,  revengefid  torments  for 
earthly  sins,  attempts  a  work  which  he  has  but  illy 
considered.  He  must  show,  from  the  radical  meaning 
and  Scriptural  use  of  the  disputed  word,  and  from  the 
occasion  of  its  occurrence  in  a  given  case,  that  it  so 
necessarily  bears  his  assumed  sense,  as  to  demand  our 
sanction  of  it,  even  to  the  nullification  of  the  uniform 
gospel  description  of  the  better  covenant. 

But  so  far  as  the  word  hell  is  concerned  in  the  case, 
it  has  been  shown  that  it  can  answer  no  such  ruinous 
purpose.  In  the  book  of  the  law  it  has  no  such  mean- 
ing; nor  in  the  prophets,  for  they  do  but  teach  and 
warn  upon  the  principles  of  the  law.  And  surely  the 
same  word  which,  when  rarely  it  is  made  descriptive 
of  a  state  of  punishment  in  the  law  and  the  prophets, 
refers  only  to  temporal  punishment,  cannot,  with  the 
requisite  demonstration,  denote  the  infliction  of  infinite 
suflerings  under  the  dispensation  of  grace. 

So  obvious  is  this  fact,  that  the  learned  and  orthodox 


WORDS   DESIGNATING   PUNISHMENT.  T^ 

Dr.  Campbell,  whose  religious  prepossessions  would 
naturally  urge  him  to  press  into  the  support  of  endless 
punishment  all  the  Scripture  words  and  phrases  he 
honestly  could,  was  constrained  by  the  imclouded 
hght  of  this  subject  to  put  forth  the  following  decisive 
language : — 

''As  to  the  word  hades,  which  occurs  in  eleven 
places  in  the  New  Testament,  and  is  rendered  hell  in 
all,  except  one,  where  it  is  translated  grave,  it  is  quite 
common  in  classical  authors,  and  frequently  iised  by 
the  Seventy  in  the  translation  of  the  Old  Testament. 
In  my  judgment  it  ought  never  in  Scripture  to  be  ren- 
dered hell,  at  least  in  the  sense  wherein  that  word  is 
now  universally  understood  by  Christians.  *  =*  ^  It 
was  written  anciently,  as  we  learn  from  the  poets,  (for 
what  is  called  the  poetic  is  nothing  but  the  ancient  dia- 
lect,) aides,  and  signifies  obscure,  hidden,  miserable. 
To  this  the  word  hell,  in  its  primitive  signification, 
perfectly  corresponded.  For,  at  first,  it  denoted  only 
what  was  secret  or  concealed.  This  word  is  found 
with  little  variation  of  form,  and  precisely  in  the  same 
meaning,  in  all  the  Teutonic  dialects."' 

After  extending  his  classical  illustrations  of  the 
meaning  of  the  word,  the  doctor  repeats, — "  But  it  is 
very  plain  that  neither  in  the  Septuagint  version  of 
the  Old  Testament,  nor  in  the  New,  does  the  word 
hades  convey  the  meaning  which  the  present  English 
word,  hell,  in  the  Christian  usage,  always  conveys  to 
our  minds."  And  speaking  for  biblical  critics  of  his 
acquaintance  generally,  he  adds, — "It  were  endless  to 
illustrate  this  remark,  by  a;i  enumeration  and  exam- 
ination of  all  the  passages  in  both  Testaments  wherein 
the  word  is  found.     The  attempt  would  be  unneces- 

«  Sixth  Pre.  Dissertation,  p.  131. 


80  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

sary,  as  it  is  hardly  now  pretended  by  any  critic,  that 
this  is  the  acceptation  of  the  term  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment." 

I  do  not  quote  Dr.  Campbell  as  authority  in  matters 
of  religious  faith ; — but  the  fact  that  learned  critics  like 
him,  whose  prepossessions  look  for  the  doctrine  of 
endless  punishment  in  the  Bible,  are  forced,  against 
their  wishes,  by  their  criticisms  on  the  literal  meaning 
of  the  word  hades^  and  its  Scriptural  usage,  to  relin- 
quish all  claim  of  support  to  such  doctrine  from  that 
term,  is  a  circumstance  weighing  something  in  con- 
firmation of  the  view  to  which  we  are  brought  by  a 
de  novo  examination  of  the  subject. 

II.  But  the  word  hell  is  sometimes  rendered  from  an- 
other .original  term  in  the  Scriptures,  viz.,  gehenna. 
Let  it  be  distinctly  observed,  however,  that  it  does  not 
stand  as  the  representative  of  that  word  in  the  books 
of  the  law,  nor  in  the  Old  Testament.  And  as  there 
is  no  such  penalty  revealed  in  the  law  as  endless  pun- 
ishment, but  on  the  contrary  the  law  expressly  sums 
up  all  its  penalties  in  temporal  sufferings,  we  should 
not,  by  a  j^rlori  reasoning,  expect  to  find  Gehenna 
introduced  into  other  parts  of  the  Bible  as  descriptive 
of  any  other  than  temporal  punishments.  Neverthe- 
less I  will  not  avail  myself,  with  the  reader,  of  this 
reasonable  assumption,  without  submitting  the  subject 
of  it  to  a  philological  and  Scriptural  scrutiny.  What, 
then,  is  the  radical  meaning,  and  what  the  scriptural 
use,  of  the  word  Gehenna  7 

Gehenna  is  compounded  of  two  Hebrew  words,  gee^ 
land,  or  valley,  and  Hinnora^  the  name  of  the  person 
who  was  the  owner  of  the  particular  valley  unto  which 
this  compound  word  was  applied.  This  valley  of  Hin- 
nom  lay  near  .Terusalem,  on  the  western  border  of  the 


PENALTIES    OF    THE    LAW.  81 

lot  of  the  tribe  of  Jiidah.  It  became  at  length  noted  as 
a  place  of  resort  for  the  idolatrous  Jews,  where  they 
burned  their  children  alive  in  the  fire,  a  sacrifice  to 
Moloch.  But  King  Josiah  in  his  reign  prevented  re- 
sort to  this  place  for  a  while,  by  rendering  it  insup- 
portably  odious  with  garbage  and  filth  from  the  city; 
as  in  2  Kings  xxiii.  10:  "  And  he  defiled  Tophet,  which 
is  in  the  valley  of  the  children  of  Hinnom,  that  no 
man  might  make  his  son  or  his  daughter  to  pass 
through  the  fire  to  Moloch."  Tophet  was  the  place  of 
the  fire-stove  in  this  valley. 

From  this  time  it  seems  that  gee  Hinnom^  the  val- 
ley of  Hinnom,  continued  for  a  long  period  to  be  a  com- 
mon receptacle  of  garbage  and  filth  from  Jerusalem. 
A  fire  was  kept  continually  burning  to  consume  the 
garbage  brought  out  there,  and  the  worms  were  con- 
stantly preying  on  that  part  of  the  filth,  which,  in  its 
abundance,  lay  about  unconsumed.  In  this  fire,  also, 
some  writers  tell  us,  criminals^  condemned  to  the  most 
shameful  and  distressing  punishment,  were  put  to 
death.  Such  is  the  literal  history  of  Gehenna^  the 
valley  of  Hinnom. 

But  the  prophets,  who  sought  for  the  most  striking 
figures  by  which  to  impress  on  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple the  important  subjects  of  their  prophecies,  used  this 
valley  as  an  emblem  or  comparison,  by  which  to  rep- 
resent the  wretched  condition  in  which  a  continuance 
in  vice  would  involve  the  Jewish  nation.  They  not 
only  forewarned  the  people  that  they  should  bury  in 
Tophet  until  there  should  be  no  place,  and  their  bodies 
should  lie  unburied,  food  for  the  beasts  of  the  field 
and  the  fowls  of  the  air,  but  also  that  their  great 
city  should  be  like  unto  Tophet ;  as  in  Jer.  xix.  12 ; 
"  Thus  will  I  do  unto  this  place,  saith  the  Lord,  and 


82  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

to  the  inhabitants  thereof,  and  even  make  this  city  as 
Tophet." 

Thus  far  all  are  agreed.  All  agree  that  Gehenna  is 
literally  the  name  of  the  valley  which  has  just  been 
described ;  and  that  in  the  Old  Testament  this  valley 
is  never  employed  as  an  emblem  of  any  other  punish- 
ment than  that  temporal  destruction  which  should 
come  on  the  Jewish  nation.  How,  then,  shall  it  be 
made  to  appear  that  this  word  signifies  a  state  of 
future  misery,  when  it  is  used  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment 7  It  is  used  by  our  Lord  as  a  word  which  the 
people  understood,  or  had  the  means  of  understand- 
ing; for  he  used  it  inever^'"  case  without  explanation. 
And  how  could  they  know  its  meaning?  They,  in 
address  to  whom  the  Saviour  used  this  word,  could 
understand  his  meaning,  because  they  were  acquainted 
with  the  valley  of  which  this  word  was  the  proper 
name,  and  with  its  use  in  the  writings  of  their  pro- 
phets, as  an  emblem  of  temporal  calamity,  and  prob- 
ably with  its  use  as  a  place  for  the  execution  of  capi- 
tal punishments.  But  how  could  they  understand 
him  as  meaning  by  it  a  place  of  punishment  in  the 
future  world?  As  he  did  not  inform  them  that  he 
employed  the  word  in  any  new  sense,  they  must  have 
understood  it,  when  employed  by  him,  according  to 
its  former  usage. 

But  here  some  tell  us  that  the  Jews  in  their  inter- 
course with  the  heathen,  between  the  last  of  the  pro- 
phets and  the  coming  of  Christ,  had  adopted  into  their 
religious  creed  the  heathen  fables  of  a  Tartarus,  or 
prison  of  fire  below  the  earth,  and  that  to  this  Tar- 
tarus they  had  applied  Gehenna^  the  name  of  their 
odious  valley.  And  they  conclude  hence  that  when 
Jesus  used  this  word,  he  used  it  in  its  new  sense, 


WORDS    DESIGNATING    PUNISHMENT.  83 

meaning  by  it  that  world  of  torment  which  was  orig- 
inated in  the  said  fables  of  the  heathen,  then  lately- 
borrowed  by  the  Jews. 

But  we  have  not  so  learned  Christ.  When  a  speaker 
uses  a  word  without  explanation,  he  is  to  be  under- 
stood as  using  it  in  the  sense  of  such  other  authors  as 
he  is  knoT\ai  to  recognize  as  authority.  Now  unto 
what  did  Jesus  refer  the  people  as  authority?  What 
was  he  engaged  in  expounding,  and  enforcing  on  the 
people  7  The  corrupt  fables  of  the  heathen,  borrowed 
by  the  apostatized  Jews?  No;  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  Testament.  The  law  and  the  prophets  were 
the  authority  recognized  by  Jesus  Christ.  Therefore, 
when  he  used  Scripture  words,  without  explaining 
them,  he  must  have  been  understood  by  his  disciples 
as  using  them  in  the  Scripture  sense,  however  such 
words  may  have  been  applied,  by  apostates,  to  other 
things. 

But  the  last  named  assumption,  concerning  the 
Jewish  usage  of  Gehenna  in  our  Saviour's  time,  is 
imfounded.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  Jews,  as 
early  as  our  Saviour's  time,  had  ever  used  the  word 
Gehenna  in  application  to  a  place  or  state  of  future 
punishment.  Some  learned  commentators  have  as- 
serted that  Gehenna  was  used  for  future  punishment 
in  the  original  of  the  Apocrypha ;  but  Mr.  Balfour  has 
detected  their  error,  having  ascertained  that  the  word 
Gehenna  does  not  once  occur  in  the  original  writings 
of  the  Apocrypha.  And  though  his  book,  announcing 
this  fact,  has  been  before  the  public  more  than  twenty 
years,  and  some  of  his  most  learned  opposers  have  un- 
dertaken to  controvert  some  parts  of  it,  no  one  has 
contradicted  his  statement  of  the  absence  of  the  word 
Gehenna  from  the  Apocrypha.     There  can  be  no  dis- 


84  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

pute  about  it,  foi  the  original  of  those  books  speaks  for 
itself;  and  they  who  have  asserted  that  Gehenna  is 
there  used  for  future  punishment,  must  have  got  their 
minds  wrought  into  the  idea  without  a  personal  exam- 
ination. And  their  assertion  was  then  the  more  safe, 
there  being  but  one  party  on  the  question.  If  there 
had  been  any  controversialist  to  call  on  them  for  the 
authority  upon  which  they  made  their  statement,  they 
would  have  gone  to  those  writings  and  examined  for 
themselves,  in  order  to  refer  their  opponent  to  book, 
chapter  and  verse,  and  would  hereby  have  discovered 
their  error. 

And  now  with  regard  to  other  Jewish  writings,  to 
which  reference  may  be  made  for  the  settlement  of  the 
question  concerning  the  Jewish  usage  of  Gehenna  in 
our  Saviour's  time, — Rev.  H.  Ballon,  2d,  D.  D.,  who  is 
extensively  read  in  ancient  Ecclesiastical  History,  has, 
with  much  and  critical  labor,  examined  all  the  author- 
ities which  can  probably  ever  be  brought  to  bear  on 
this  question,  and  has  ascertained  the  fact  that  all 
other  Jewish  writings  now  extant,  are  as  free  from  the 
use  of  Gehenna^  in  reference  to  future  punishment,  as 
are  the  books  of  the  Apocrypha,  until  more  than  two 
hundred  years  after  Christ.  No  Jewish  writing  ex- 
tant, of  a  later  date  than  the  Old  Testament  Scrip- 
tures, uses  this  word,  until  the  Targum  of  Jonathan 
Ben  Uzziel ;  and  this,  the  best  of  critics  agree,  could 
not  have  been  written  earlier  than  the  end  of  the  2d 
century ;  some  say  the  4th,  and  some  refer  the  work 
to  as  late  a  period  as  the  7th  or  8th  century.^ 

It  seems  nov/  to  be  a  settled  point,  that  the  last  position 
from  which  disputants  have  argued  for  the  application 
of  Gehernia  in  the  New  Testament  to  future  punish- 

i  See  Universalist  Expositor  for  May,  1832. 


PENALTIES    OF    THE    LAW.  85 

merit,  is  without  evidence  to  support  it.  There  is  no 
evidence  on  which  rehance  can  be  placed,  that  even 
the  apostatized  Jews,  in  our  Saviour's  time,  had  ever 
apphed  the  word  Gehenna  to  future  punishment.  We 
are  therefore  left  to  make  up  our  judgment  on  the 
meaning  of  the  word  in  the  New  Testament,  alto- 
gether from  the  Old  Testament  use  of  the  phrase  Gee 
Hinnom^  and  from  the  connexions  in  the  several 
cases  in  which  the  New  Testament  employs  it. 

The  literal  sense  and  Old  Testament  usage  have 
been  considered  and  determined ;  and  thus  far  all  are 
agreed.  Since,  then,  it  is  incontrovertibly  settled,  that 
Gee  Hi?inom  in  the  Old  Testament  is  only  used  as  the 
proper  name  of  the  odious  valley,  and  as  an  emblem 
of  the  then  future  corruptness  and  desolation  of  the 
Jewish  city  and  nation;  and  since,  furthermore,  no 
Jewish  Avriter  had  used  the  compound  word,  Gehenna^ 
in  any  other  sense,^by  what  authority  can  it  be 
asserted,  that  this  word,  in  the  New  Testament,  is 
used  for  a  place  or  state  of  endless  punishment  7  The 
reader  will  perceive  that,  if  there  is  any  authority  for 
such  an  assumption,  it  must  be  found  in  some  very 
obvious  assignment  to  it  of.  the  new  and  unheard  of 
sense,  by  the  great  Teacher,  in  connection  with  his 
use  of  it.  Does  he  assign  to  it  any  such  new  signifi- 
cation, either  directly,  or  by  implication  ?  To  answer 
this  inquiry,  we  will  briefly  examine  its  New  Testa- 
ment usage. 

Its  first  occurrence  in  this  portion  of  the  inspired 
Book,  is  in  Matt.  v.  21,  22:  "Ye  have  heard  that  it 
was  said  by  them  of  old  time,  thou  shalt  not  kill :  and 
whosoever  shall  kill  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judg- 
ment. But  I  say  unto  you,  that  whosoever  is  angry 
with  his  brother  without  a  cause,  shall  be  in  danger 
8 


86  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

of  the  judgment :  and  whosoever  shall  say  to  his  bro- 
ther, Raca,  (shallow  brains,)  shall  be  in  danger  of  the 
council ;  but  whosoever  shall  say,  thou  fool,  (^Moreh^ 
apostate^  shall  be  in  danger  oihellfire^^^  {Gehenna fire^ 
Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  is  the  first  instance 
of  the  use  of  the  word  Gehenna  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment ;  and  where  is  the  evidence  that  it  is  here  used 
in  our  opposers'  new  sense?  No  such  evidence  ap- 
pears. We  find  nothing  introduced  here  but  the  same 
Gehenna  fire  of  which  we  read  in  the  Old  Testament, 
and  which  appears  to  have  been  used  for  the  infliction 
of  the  highest  punishments.  Jesus  here  speaks  in  ref- 
erence to  three  grades  of  'punishment ;  strangling^  by 
the  judgment  of  twenty-three  members;  stoning^  by 
the  council  of  seventy-two;  and  being  burnt  in  the 
valley  of  Hinnom.  He  used  language  which  was  so 
familiar  to  the  people  he  addressed,  that  it  would  have 
been  puerile  for  him  to  explain  it.  It  seems  to  have 
been  his  design  to  guard  his  disciples  against  any  dan- 
gerous mistake,  with  regard  to  the  means  by  which 
they  might  expose  themselves  to  the  judgment  of  the 
civil  tribunals  of  the  country,  to  be  cut  off"  from  their 
good  work  in  form  of  law,  and  not  as  persecution  for 
opinion's  sake.  They  were  of  like  passion  with  other 
men;  they  were  punishable  for  injurious  words  as 
well  as  for  injurious  actions ;  and  their  enemies  were 
watching  them  for  evil.  Being  of  a  class  of  commu- 
nity not  probably  practised  in  judicial  tactics,  if  they 
were  not  cautioned  and  guarded  in  relation  to  these 
things,  they  might  unawares  give  occasion  to  their  arch 
and  ever  watchful  enemies,  to  procure  their  death  by 
legal  process.  They  might,  in  a  momentary  burst  of 
passion,  excited  by  abusive  opposition,  cast  at  their 
opposers   some  opprobrious   epithet,  for   which  they 


WORDS   DESIGNATING   PUNISHMENT.  87 

would  be  subject  to  arraignment,  and  death  by  stran- 
gling, or  stoning,  or  burning  in  the  fire  of  Gehenna, 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  epithet. 

Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  in  his  Commentary  on  this  pas- 
sage, says,  "It  is  very  probable  that  our  Lord  means 
no  more  here  than  this  ;  if  a  man  charge  another  with 
apostasy  from  the  Jewish  religion,  or  rebellion  against 
God,  and  cannot  prove  his  charge,  then  he  is  exposed  to 
that  punishment  {burning  alive)  which  the  other  must 
have  suffered  if  the  charge  had  been  substantiated. 
There  are  three  kinds  of  offences  here,  which  exceed 
each  other  in  their  degrees  of  guilt.  1.  Anger  against 
a  man,  accompanied  with  some  injurious  act.  2.  Con- 
tempt^ expressed  by  the  opprobrious  epithet,  Raca^  or 
shallow  brains.  3.  Hatred  and  mortal  enmity^  ex- 
pressed by  the  term  Moreh,  or  apostate,  where  such 
apostasy  could  not  be  proved.  Now,  proportioned  to 
these  three  offences,  were  three  different  degrees  of 
punishment,  each  exceeding  the  other  in  severity, 
as  the  offences  exceeded  each  other  in  their  different 
degrees  of  guilt.  1.  The  jiidgme?it,  the  council  of 
twenty-three  J  which  could  inflict  the  punishment  of 
strangling.  2.  The  Sanhedrin,  or  great  council, 
which  could  inflict  the  punishment  of  stoning.  3.  The 
being  burnt  alive  in  the  valley  of  the  son  of  Hinnom. 
This  appears  to  be  the  meaning  of  our  Lord."=^ 

*  Professor  Stuart,  after  showing  the  literal  meaning  of  this  word  to  be 
what  we  have  stated,  argues,  what  none  will  dispute,  the  frequent  Scripture  use 
of  words  in  a  secondary  or  figurative  sense.  He  then  refers  to  this  first  use 
of  Gehenna  in  the  New  Testament,  and  says  that  it  is  "  the  only  passage 
which  seems  to  be  even  capable  of  the  literal  sense."  But  upon  quoting  the 
passage,  he  puts  the  inquiry,  "  Is  all  this  literal,  or  spiritual?"  And  finally 
he  comes  to  his  conclusion  in  these  words  :  "  The  Saviour  could  not  here  mean 
to  say  that  the  Jews  would  literally  punish  the  various  gradations  of  crime 
which  he  marks.  We  must  suppose,  then,  that  he  means  to  designate  the 
punishment  which  God,  who  could  judge  the  heart,  would  inflict,  and  which 
must  be  spiritJial.^' 


bo  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

Gehenna  occurs  twice  again  in  the  same  chapter, 
(verses  29,  30:)  "And  if  thy  right  eye  offend  thee, 

Well,  suppose  it  were  so  ; — suppose  the  design  of  Jesus  was  to  teach  that 
the  Lord,  "who  searcheth  the  heart  and  trieth  the  reins,  even  to  give  unto 
every  man  according  to  his  ways,"  will  administer  different  degrees  of  sipir- 
itual  sufferings,  according  to  the  different  degrees  of  sinfulness  in  man. 
What  then?  Does  it  follow  that  reference  was  made  to  punishment  in  an- 
other world?  No  such  punishment  is  written  in  the  book  of  the  laxo, — nor  in 
the  prophets,  of  course,  who  founded  their  threatenings  upon  legal  principles. 
And  now,  is  the  mere  fact  that  Jesus  Christ  speaks  of  a  punisliment  which 
God  will  inflict,  a  proof  that  he  means  the  infliction  of"  immortal  pains?  " 
When  David  says,  "  Also  unto  thee,  O  Lord,  belongeth  mercy,  for  thou  ren- 
derest  unto  every  man  according  to  his  work,"  he  speaks  of  retributions  ad- 
ministered, not  by  Jewish  rulers,  but  by  the  government  of  God.  Does  it 
follow  hence,  that  the  Psalmist  meant,  that  God  will  in  mercy  raise  up  his 
offending  children  from  the  deep  sleep  of  death,  to  inflict  upon  them  unend- 
ing torments  ?  Who  would  have  supposed  that  the  circumstance  of  a  pun- 
ishment being  administered  by  Him  who  "judgeth  in  the  earth,"  (Ps. 
Ixii.  12,)  is  proof  that  it  must  be  administered  in  a  future  world?  Yet  this 
is  precisely  the  argument  of  the  learned  Professor.  After  remarking  that 
Jesus  "  could  not  mean  to  say  that  the  Jexcs  would  literally  punish  the  vari- 
ous gradations  of  crimes  which  he  marks,"  and  that  "we  must  suppose, 
then,  that  he  means  to  designate  the  punishment  which  God,  who  can  judge 
the  heart,  would  inflict,  and  which  must  be  spiritual,"  he  concludes,—"  What 
is  meant  must  then  be^  that  God  would  punish,  in  a  future  world,  with  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  severity,  which  were  signified  or  symbolized  by  the  Sep- 
temviri,  by  the  Sanhedrim,  and  by  being  burned  in  the  valley  of  Hinnom." — 
(Exegetical  Essays  on  Gehenna.) 

To  Professor  Stuart  belongs  the  credit  of  such  an  argument.  But  it  will 
he  seen  that  his  argument  just  as  much  makes  the  words  which  stand  for 
Septemviri,  and  Sanhedrim,  mean  a  place  of  endless  punishment  "  in  a  future 
world,"  as  Gehenna.  And  this,  then,  is  the  first  revelation,  the  original  burst- 
ing forth,  of  the  astounding  dogma,  that  God  will  raise  up  millions  of  his  chil- 
dren, and  hold  them  up  in  unending  being,  that  he  may  wreak  upon  them 
unending  vengeance  !  It  is  not  in  the  Law, — it  is  not  in  the  Prophets, — it  is 
not  in  the  literal  meaning  of  the  terms  Septemviri,  Sanhedrim,  and  Gehenna, 
—nor  is  it  in  any  explanation  which  the  Saviour  has  given  of  these  words,— 
but  it  is  in  these  six  words  of  Professor  Stuart  in  relation  to  a  figurative  use 
of  those  terms,  viz.,  "  What  is  meant  must  then  be!  "  And  this,  I  apprehend, 
is  as  good  authority  as  that  dogma  will  in  any  case  be  found  to  be  entitled  to. 

It  is  granted  that  the  word  Gehenna  is  in  some  cases  used  figuratively, 
"  signifying  or  symbolizing  "  a  punishment  which  God  would  inflict ;  but  the 
reader  who  goes  with  me  in  the  examination  of  its  New  Testament  usage, 
will  see  that  the  assumption  that  the  punishment  it  symbolizes,  is  "in  a 
future  world,"  is  not  only  unauthorized  by  the  testimony,  liut  opposed  to  it. 


PENALTIES    OF    THE    LAW.  89 

pluck  it  out  and  cast  it  from  thee ;  for  it  is  profitable 
for  thee  that  one  of  thy  members  should  perish,  and 
not  that  thy  whole  body  should  be  cast  into  Gehen- 
na ^  The  other  verse  is  the  same,  except  substituting 
the  hand  for  the  eye.  The  same  is  recorded  by  the 
Evangelist  Mark,  thus:  (Mark  ix.  43:)  ''And  if  thy 
hand  offend  thee,  cut  it  off;  it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter 
into  life  maimed,  than  having  two  hands  to  go  into 
hell,  {Gehenna^^  into  the  fire  that  never  shall  be 
quenched ; '''  or,  as  the  most  literal  translation  is,  into 
the  unquenchable  fire;  "  where  their  worm  dieth  not, 
and  the  fire  is  not  quenched."  This  word  Gehenna  is 
twice  repeated  in  the  same  sense  in  the  verses  which 
follow. 

Now  it  is  evident  that  in  this  case  the  word  Ge- 
henna has  no  reference  to  a  place  of  future  torment, 
because  Jesus  was  not  discoursing  on  the  subject  of  a 
future  state.  Such  a  thing  is  supposed  as  an  entrance 
into  the  life  here  spoken  of,  maimed;  and  that  on 
account  of  denying  ourselves  of  what  would  cause 
offence  against  the  gospel.  Can  this  apply  to  the 
future  state  ?  Can  you  conceive  of  such  a  thing  as  a 
person's  entering  into  life,  in  the  resurrection  immor- 
tal state, — entering  into  the  blissful  paradise  of  God, 
feeling  there  maimed;  and  that  too,  in  consequence 
of  having  done  so  ivell  in  this  world,  as  to  cut  off 
what  would  have  caused  offence  ?  Such  a  thing  is 
not  supposable.  But  in  this  world,  persons  may,  by 
faith  and  obedience,  enter  into  the  life  of  the  gospel, 
and  yet  feel  maimed  on  account  of  some  sacrifices 
made.  Here  then  is  the  entering  into  life  maimed. 
It  can  only  be  in  this  world.  And  as  the  casting  into 
Gehenna  is  set  against  the  entering  into  life  maimed, 
this  too  must  be  expressive  of  some  calamity  on  earth. 
8* 


90  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

The  plain  sense  of  this  passage  is,  that  it  was  better 
for  the  disciples  to  suffer  what  privations  an  adherence 
to  the  gospel  in  that  age  required,  and  enjoy  the  gos- 
pel life,  and  the  divine  protection  which  was  promised 
the  true  disciples,  than  to  abandon  Christ's  cause,  and 
be  cast  into  Gehenna^  or  suffer  in  those  dire  calami- 
ties of  the  unbelieving  Jewish  nation,  which  should 
make  their  city  like  Tophet  in  Gehe7ina^  and  literally 
fill  up  that  valley  with  the  unburied  carcasses  of  that 
people.  The  phrase,  "unquenchable  fire,"  and  the 
saying,  "Where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is 
not  quenched,"  are  allusions  to  the  well  known  worm 
and  fire  of  the  valley  of  Hinnom,  before  spoken  of  "^ 
But  figuratively  used,  as  they  seem  to  be  here,  they 
denote  the  continuance  and  effectiveness  of  those  evils, 
which  should,  like  the  worm  and  fire  of  Gehenna^ 
prey  upon  and  consume  that  people.  These  calami- 
ties were,  by  the  prophets,  even  when  the  valley  of 
Hinnom  was  not  referred  to,  called  a  fire  that  should 
not  be  quenched ;  as  in  Jer.  vii.  20  : — "  Therefore  thus 
saith  the  Lord  God,  Behold,  mine  anger  and  my  fury 
shall  be  poured  out  upon  this  place,  upon  man,  and 
upon  beast,  and  upon  the  trees  of  the  field,  and 
upon  the  fruit  of  the  ground,  and  it  shall  burn, 
and  shall  not  be  quenched."  And  Jer.  xvii.  27 : 
"  Then  will  I  kindle  a  fire  in  the  gates  thereof,  and  it 
shall  devour  the  palaces  of  Jerusalem,  and  it  shall 
not  be  quenched."  Hence  we  perceive  that  this  un- 
quenchable fire  was  in  the  earth ;  we  read  nothing  of 

•>  On  this  phraseology  Professor  Stuart  justly  remarks,  "  It  would  seem 
that  the  custom  of  desecrating  this  place,  {Gehenna,)  thus  happily  begun, 
was  continued  in  after  ages  down  to  the  period  when  our  Saviour  was  on 
earth.  Perpetual  fires  were  kept  up,  in  order  to  consume  the  offal  Avhich 
was  deposited  there.  And  as  the  offal  would  breed  worms,  (for  so  all  putre- 
fying meat  of  course  does,)  hence  came  the  expression,  '  Where  the  worm 
dieth  not,  and  ihe  fire  is  nni  qnench<^d.'" 


WORDS   DESIGNATING   PUNISHMENT.  91 

it  in  the  Scriptures  when  speaking  of  the  resurrection 
world.  It  being  called  unquenchable  fire ^  denotes  that 
the  judgment  signified  by  it  should  not  be  checked,  or 
prevented  from  accomplishing  its  full  destined  work. 

The  word  Gehenna  occurs  again  in  Matt,  xxiii.  33 : 
'■'•  Ye  serpents,  ye  generation  of  vipers !  how  can  ye 
(iscape  the  damnation  of  hell?"  (the  punishment  of 
Gehenna  7)  The  meaning  here  is  obvious.  Jesus  was 
addressing  those  people  whom  the  prophets  had  fore- 
warned that  they  should  be  food  for  the  beasts  and 
fowls  in  the  valley  of  Hinnom,  and  that  their  city 
should  be  as  Tophet.  He  saw  them  in  the  practice 
of  the  very  iniquities  on  which  were  predicated  these 
threatenings  of  punishment,  and  yet  they  were  plac- 
ing reliance  on  their  outside  piety,  as  if  that  would 
shield  them.  The  whole  of  the  preceding  part  of  this 
chapter  he  had  devoted  to  an  exposure  and  reprehen- 
sion of  their  hypocrisy ;  and  here  he  interrogates  them 
as  if  he  had  said :  "  Ye  brood  of  vipers,  how  can  you 
expect,  by  such  hypocrisy,  to  escape  that  punishment 
which  your  prophets  have  forewarned  you  shall  crowd 
Gehenna  with  the  unburied  carcasses  of  this  people, 
and  even  make  your  city  as  Tophet?"  By  the 'pun- 
ishment of  Gehenna  we  do  not  understand  Jesus  to 
mean  merely  what  should  be  suffered  in  that  particu- 
lar valley,  but  that  judgment,  that  great  calamity, 
which  should  come  on  that  whole  people,  and  the 
effects  of  which  on  that  nation  the  prophets  represented 
by  reference  to  the  valley  of  Hinnom.  That  this  is 
what  Jesus  here  meant  by  the  'punishment  of  Gehenna^ 
is  furthermore  certain  from  his  own  succeeding  expla- 
nation of  it.  "Wherefore,  behold,  I  send  unto  you 
prophets,  and  wise  men,  and  scribes;  and  some  of 
them  ye  shall  kill  and  crucify,  and  some  of  them  ye 


^  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN  DIVINITY. 

shall  scourge  in  your  synagogues,  and  persecute  them 
from  city  to  city ;  that  upon  you  may  come  all  the 
righteous  blood  shed  upon  the  earth.  Verily  I  say 
unto  you,  all  these  things  shall  come  upon  this  genera- 
tion. O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem !  Your  house  is  left 
unto  you  desolate,"  &c.  Now  what  respect  can  we 
have  for  all  the  assertions  of  men  which  are  against 
the  words  of  Jesus?  For  he,  directly  proceeding  to 
describe  the  punishment  of  Gehenna^  shows  that  he 
meant  by  it  that  calamity  which  should  come  on  that 
generation  of  the  Jews,  and  desolate  their  country  and 
city. 

Another  instance  of  the  use  of  the  word  under  con- 
sideration, is  in  Matt.  x.  28  :  "And  fear  not  them  which 
kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul ;  but 
rather  fear  him,  which  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and 
body  in  hell."  {Gehenna.)  The  same  is  thus  recorded 
in  Luke  xii.  4,  5.  "And  I  say  unto  you,  my  friends, 
Be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body,  and  after 
that  have  no  more  that  they  can  do.  But  I  will  fore- 
warn you  whom  ye  shall  fear ;  fear  him,  which,  after 
he  hath  killed,  hath  power  to  cast  into  hell ;  yea,  I 
say  unto  you,  fear  him." 

This  is  the  only  case  in  which  there  seems  to  be  the 
least  plausible  ground  for  an  application  of  Gehenna 
to  punishment  in  the  future  world.  It  speaks  of  the 
power  of  God  to  cast  into  Gehenna  after  he  hath 
killed.  But  a  just  consideration  of  the  case  will,  it  is 
presumed,  satisfy  the  reader,  that  the  word  is  not  here 
used  as  a  revelation  of  any  such  new  description  of 
punishment.  This  passage  was  addressed  by  our 
Lord  to  his  ministering  disciples,  as  he  was  sending 
them  out  into  the  world  to  propagate  his  doctrines.  It 
is  not  to  be  supposed  that  he  meant  to  threaten  them 


PENALTIES    OF    THE    LAW.  93 

with  a  future  Gehenna  of  endless  torments,  when  he 
had  never  warned  the  enemies  of  his  cause  with  any 
other  than  a  Gehenna  of  temporal  calamities.  His 
design  was  to  guard  them  against  being  influenced 
by  the  fear  of  man  to  abandon  his  cause.  Men  could 
kill  the  body,  but  not  the  {psiike)  soul.  The  word 
here  rendered  so2d  is  most  commonly  used  for  life. 
And  the  circumstance  that  a  distinction  is  here  made, 
which  is  not  made  elsewhere,  between  killing  the 
{soma)  body  and  the  {psuke)  life,  leads  us  to  the  con- 
clusion that  in  this  case  something  is  meant  by  killing 
the  body  short  of  taking  the  life. 

The  word  apokteinoj  here  rendered  kill,  signifies,  ac- 
cording to  the  lexicons,  to  kill,  to  slay,  to  take  away, 
to  remove,  to  heat  almost  to  death,  to  tease  or  plague, 
&c.  And  as  killing  the  body  is  here  spoken  of  in  dis- 
tinction from  killing  the  life,  it  appears  to  me  evident 
that  it  denotes  the  taking  away  of  the  comforts  and 
privileges  of  the  body,  the  teasing  or  plaguing  of  the 
body,  (a  sense  which  the  word  rendered  kill  may  ex- 
press,) without  taking  the  life.  And  of  this  scourging 
of  the  body,  as  Matthew  shows  us  in  his  record  of  the 
same  conversation,  Jesus  had  just  been  informing  his 
disciples  that  they  should  suffer.  "  Beware  of  men," 
said  he,  "for  they  will  deliver  you  up  to  the  councils, 
and  they  will  scourge  you  in  their  synagogues ;  ^  *  *  =* 
and  ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  nations  for  my  name's 
sake  ;  but  he  that  endureth  to  the  end  shall  be  saved." 
That  is,  he  who  continued  faithful  should  have  his 
life  preserved,  though  men  might  thus  kill,  that  is, 
scourge  and  plague  the  body. — "  Fear  them  not,  there- 
fore," continued  Jesus,  ''for  there  is  nothing  covered 
that  shall  not  be  revealed ;  and  hid  which  shall  not  be 
known.     What  I  tell  you  in  darkness,  that  speak  ye 


^4/f* 


94  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

in  light;  and  what  ye  hear  in  the  ear,  that  preach  ye 
on  the  house-tops.  And  fear  not  them  which  kill  the 
bod}?-^  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul ;  but  rather  fear 
him  which  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  [life]  and  body 
in  Gehenna.  Are  not  two  sparrows  sold  for  a  far- 
thing? and  one  of  them  shall  not  fall  on  the  ground 
without  your  Father.  But  the  very  hairs  of  your 
head  are  all  numbered.  Fear  ye  not  therefore,  for  ye 
are  of  more  value  than  many  sparrows."  That  is, 
fear  not  men;  for  this  is  a  repetition  of  what  was  said 
in  the  26th  verse.  "  Fear  them  not,  therefore."  Jesus 
was  sending  the  disciples  out  to  labor  in  the  gospel 
ministry,  and  aimed  to  inspire  them  with  a  confidence 
in  the  Divine  protection  in  the  path  of  duty, — but 
with  a  fear  to  forsake  duty  for  human  protection. 
They  might  fear  nothing  in  the  path  of  duty;  fear 
nothing  but  to  offend  the  laws  of  God.  It  would  be 
by  such  offence  that  they  would  subject  themselves  to 
the  greatest  evil.  Though  it  would  not  consist  with 
the  Divine  economy  to  work  that  constant  miracle, 
which  would  prevent  men's  sometimes  killing,  or 
scourging  their  bodies^ — if  they  were  faithful,  God 
would  preserve  their  lives.  But  if  they  should  aban- 
don duty  to  procure  the  protection  of  men,  the  power 
of  God,  after  it  had  afflicted  their  bodies,  would  cast 
them  into  Gehenna^  or  destroy  both  their  lives  and 
bodies  by  that  judgment,  which  was  called  the  punish- 
ment of  Gehenna. 

True,  some  of  the  disciples  were  to  lose  their  lives 
for  Christ's  sake.  But  this  should  only  be  when  they 
should  see  their  work  to  be  done,  as  did  Paul  when  he 
said,  "I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered," — so  that  they 
should  offer  themselves  a  willing  sacrifice  to  the  cause 
of  truth.     Then  it  might  be  said  in  truth  of  them,  as 


WORDS    DESIGNATING    PUNISHMENT.  95 

Jesus  said  of  himself,  "  No  man  taketh  it  (my  life) 
from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself" '  The  disciples 
were  immortal,  to  tlie  accomplishment  of  their  mission, 
if  they  were  faithful  to  duty. 

Such,  then,  seems  to  be  the  sentiment  of  this  portion 
of  Scripture.  Jesus  designed  to  encourage  his  disci- 
ples to  a  fearless  march  in  the  way  of  duty,  by  the  as- 
surance that  in  that  way  God  would  preserve  their 
lives,  until  he  should  make  them  to  see,  and  cheerfully 
consent,  that  it  was  tlie  best  time  for  them  to  die ; — 
and  until  that  time,  though  men  might  kill  or  scourge 
their  bodies^  they  could  not  take  their  lives.  And  if 
one  is  assured  that,  in  faithfulness  to  duty,  men  can- 
not destroy  his  life  until  he  is  prepared  in  his  mind  to 
give  himself  a  willing  sacrifice  for  the  cause  he  loves, 
then  in  the  path  of  duty  he  has  nothing  to  fear  from 
men.  But  if,  for  fear  of  men,  the  disciples  should 
apostatize  from  the  Christian  cause,  they  would  fall 
under  that  judgment  of  God,  which,  after  killing  or 
torturing  the  body,  would  cast  into  Gehenna^ — 
would  destroy  both  life  and  body  in  that  calamity 
which  was  called  the  punishment  of  Gehenna.  I  say 
they  would  fall  under  that  judgment  of  God  which 
xoould  do  this;  for  though  the  text  only  says  that  he 
hath  'power  to  do  it,  the  testimony  of  the  Scriptures  in 
general  on  the  same  subject,  as  we  have  seen,  shows 
that  the  judgment  here  referred  to  woidd  be  executed 
on  the  unbelieving  Jews,  and  on  the  apostates  from  the 
Christian  religion. 

Our  Saviour  employs  this  word,  (Matt,  xxiii.  15,)  as 
it  might  appropriately  be  employed,  as  an  emblem  of 
odiousness :  ''Woe  unto  you.  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
hypocrites !  for  ye  compass  sea  and  land  to  make  one 

>  John  X.  18. 


96  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

proselyte,  and  when  he  is  made,  ye  make  him  two-fold 
more  the  child  of  Gehenna  than  yourselves  ! "  The 
proselytes  were  two-fold  worse^  or  more  odious^  than 
those  who  made  them.  And  there  is  a  passage  in 
James,  where  the  destructive  effect  of  the  bad  use  of 
the  tongue  is  represented  by  the  Jit^e  of  Gehenna. 
(See  James  in.  6.)  "And  the  tongue  is  a  fire,  a  world 
of  iniquity;  and  is  set  on  fire  of  hell,"  (^Gehenna.) 

Thus  endeth  the  catalogue  of  cases  in  which  Ge- 
henna occurs  in  the  New  Testament.  And  the  candid 
reader  will  participate  with  me  in  the  high  satisfaction 
derived  from  the  admirable  harmony  of  the  Scripture 
doctrines.  So  far  as  we  have  made  progress  in  our 
investigations,  we  find  no  verbal  description  of  pun- 
ishment which  contradicts  the  merciful  design  of 
the  law,  and  the  adaptedness  of  its  penalties  to  promote 
its  benevolent  ends. 

III.  But  there  is  one  other  word  in  the  original  of 
the  New  Testament,  which  is  rendered  hell  in  the 
common  version,  and  which  has  been  thought  to  mean 
a  place  of  endless  punishment.  It  is  Tartarus.  It 
occurs  but  once  in  the  Bible,  and  that  is  in  2  Peter  ii. 
4.  "  For  if  God  spared  not  the  angels  that  sinned,  but 
cast  them  down  to  hell,  {Tartarosas,)  and  dehvered 
them  into  chains  of  darkness,  to  be  reserved  unto 
judgment." 

As  Tartarus  is  not  found  elsewhere  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  it  does  not  occur  in  the  Septuagint, 
we^nust  h^ve  recourse  to  the  Greek  classics  for  its 
meaning.  From  this  source  we  learn  that  Tartarus 
was  the  heathen  name  of  their  fabulous  prison  in  the 
bowels  of  the  earth.  Dr.  Clarke  quotes  Hesiod  as  say- 
ing, "  Here,  (in  Tartarus,)  the  rebellious  Titans  were 
bound  in  penal  chains."     And  again. 


PENALTIES    OF    THE   LAW.  97 

"Black  Tai1q,Tus,  within  earth's  spacious  womb." 

The  question  now  to  be  considered  is,  for  what 
purpose  did  Peter  introdace  this  word  in  the  case  be- 
fore us  ?  Did  he  mean  to  use  it  hterally,  for  the  hea- 
then fabulous  prison  of  fire  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
with  the  design  to  give  his  sanction  to  those  fables  ? 
No  Christian  will  contend  for  this.  It  will  be  of  no 
avail,  then,  to  assume  that  he  used  it  to  "symbolize" 
the  future  hell  of  a  portion  of  the  modern  Christian 
church ;  for  no  such  "place  of  torment"  is  revealed  or 
taught  in  the  Scriptures,  to  he  symbolized.  The  au- 
thors of  the  London  Improved  Version  of  the  New 
Testament,  suppose  that  he  meant  to  symbolize  the 
state  of  "judicial  blindness,"  unto  which  God  con- 
signed the  fallen  or  treacherous  messengers,^  "Avho 
were  sent  to  spy  out  the  land  of  Canaan,  unto  the 
judgment  of  a  great  day,  i.  e.  when  they  were  de- 
stroyed by  a  plague."  For  this  view  of  the  subject 
they  refer  to  "Simpson's  Essays,"  a  work  to  which  I 
have  not  had  access.  But  these  translators  add',  "  Per-  , 
haps,  however,  the  writer  may  refer  to  some  fanciful 
account  of  the  fall  of  angels  contained  in  the  apocry- 
phal book  which  lay  before  him,  without  intending  to 
vouch  for  that  fact.  He  might  introduce  it  merely  to 
illustrate  his  argument." 

That  Peter  here  quoted  from  an  apocryphal  book, 
seems  to  have  been  the  opinion  of  many  critical  com- 
mentators ;  and  Jude  is  supposed  to  have  quoted  from 
the  same  author.  This  opinion  commends  itself  to  my 
mind  as  the  most  probable.  The  passage  bears  a 
strong  resemblance  to  many  passages  in  Greek  fabu- 

J  "  Angelas,''  says  Parkhurst,  quoting  Austin,  <'  is  a  name  not  of  nature, 
but  of  office."  The  office  of  messenger,  which  the  word  angel  means,  is 
applied  to  eitiier  spiritual  or  physical  agents,  as  the  case  may  be. 

9 


98  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

Ions  descriptions  of  incidents  in  relation  to  Tartarus. 
Some  fabulous  work,  not  Greek,  but  Jewish,  is  evi- 
dently quoted  by  Jude,  verse  9th.  "  Yet  Michael,  the 
archangel,  when,  contending  with  the  devil,  he  dis- 
puted about  the  body  of  Moses,  durst  not  bring  against 
him  a  railing  accusation,  but  said,  The  Lord  rebuke 
thee."  Such  quotations  from  fabulous  and  apocryphal 
works,  and  references  to  popular  opinion,  which  are 
used  for  comparison  and  illustration,  never  involve  the 
idea  of  a  sanction  of  the  stories  or  opinions  referred 
to.  This  reference  to  the  story  of  a  dispute  between 
Michael  and  the  devil,  where  the  writer's  sense  of  pro- 
priety made  the  former  guard  against  raillery,  even 
toward  the  evil  angel,  was  designed  to  set  off  the  dis- 
gusting arrogance  of  those  disorganizers  he  was  re- 
proving, Avho  ''despised  dominion,  and  spake  evil  of 
dignities."  Our  Lord  said  to  the  Pharisees,  "If  I  by 
Beelzebub  cast  out  devils,  by  whom  do  your  children 
cast  them  out?  therefore  they  shall  be  your  judges."" 
He  did  not  mean  to  admit  that  the  children  of  the 
Pharisees  had  the  power  to  do  those  works  which 
they  pretended ;  but  he  argued  with  them  upon  their 
own  assumed  principles,  to  convict  them  of  injustice 
towards  him.  He  quoted  also  some  fabulous  story  of 
the  Jews,  when,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  same  chapter, 
he  introduced  the  case  of  the  unclean  spirit  going  out 
of  a  man,  and  returning  with  seven  other  spirits  more 
wicked  than  himself,  making  the  last  state  of  that 
man  worse  than  the  first.  The  moral  of  the  story,  as 
applied  to  the  Jews  of  that  age,  is  all  he  aimed  to  in- 
culcate,— viz.,  "So  shall  it  be  with  this  generation." 
It  is  as  if  he  had  said,  "  The  state  of  this  generation 
subsequent  to  the  coming  of  their  expected  Messiah, 

k  Matt.  xii.  27. 


WORDS    DESIGNATING    PUNISHMENT.  99 

shall  compare  with  that  preceding,  as  the  last  state  of 
the  demoniac  in  your  fable  compares  with  the  first." 
And  with  regard  to  the  design  of  Peter  in  quoting  from 
the  fabulous  work  in  relation  to  the  durance  of  certain 
angels  in  Tartarus  for  judgment,  the  application  he 
makes  of  it  is,  that  "  the  Lord  knoweth  how  to  reserve 
the  unjust  unto  a  day  of  judgment  to  be  punished." 
And  as  the  day  of  judgment  with  those  apostates  of 
Avhom  he  was  complaining,  St.  Peter  says,  "  Whose 
judgment  now  of  a  long  time  lingereth  not^  and  their 
damnation  slumber eth  notP  He  was  not  treating  on  a 
judgment  to  be  postponed  for  ages. 

It  is  now  seen  that  the  word  Tartarus,  as  used  in 
this  single  case  in  the  Scriptures,  proves  nothing  con- 
trary to  the  general  tenor  of  the  inspired  teachings  on 
the  legal  penalties.  But,  in  concluding  my  remarks 
on  the  subject  before  us,  I  will  show  that  the  popular 
use  of  this  passage  is  utterly  exploded  by  other  parts 
of  the  same  creed  which  adopts  it.  It  is  supposed  that 
the  Miltonian  doctrine  of  the  conversion  of  holy  angels 
to  devils,  is  taught  in  this  place.  Dr.  Watts  versifies 
the  sentiment  which  the  dominant  sects  hold  of  this 
delivering  of  the  angels  into  chains  of  darkness,  in  the 
following  stanza : — 

"  There  Sat^,  the  first  sinner,  lies, 
And  roars  and  bites  his  iron  bands  ; 
In  vain  the  rebel  strives  to  rise. 
Crushed  with  the  weight  of  both  thy  hands." ' 

They  at  the  same  time  maintain  that  these  fallen  angels, 
or  devils,  are  freely  and  actively  ranging  over  the  face 
of  this  our  world,  scheming  and  working  mightily  and 
successfully  against  the  designs  and  operations  of  God 
and  his  Christ,  achieving  and  maintaining  almost  uni- 

>  Watts,  H.  44,  B.  2. 


100  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

versal  empire  in  the  great  family  of  God's  children. 
Such  brilliant  achievements  against  the  government 
of  the  Eternal,  acquired  and  maintained  in  the  world 
above  ground^  by  the  imprisoned  angels  chained  down 
in  Tartarus^  are  incredible.  The  idea  refutes  itself 
And  we  turn  from  these  fables  to  the  beautiful  and 
harmonious  teachings  of  the  Divine  Spirit. 

As  we  have  had  our  attention  called  to  the  heathen 
Tartarus,  and  to  the  occasional  employment  by  the 
sacred  writers  of  popular  opinions,  to  enforce  truth 
and  duty,  I  deem  this  the  proper  place  for  the  intro- 
duction of  the  parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus,  (Luke 
xvi.  19 — 31.)  It  may  be  urged  by  some  that  this  par- 
able presents  an  objection  to  the  view  taken,  in  the 
beginning  of  this  section,  on  the  word  hades,  for  here 
it  is  represented  as  a  place  of  torment  after  death. 
The  rich  man  is  represented  as  being  dead  and  buried, 
and  yet  lifting  up  his  eyes  in  hades,  being  in  torment. 

The  objection  here  presented  being  at  first  view 
plausible,  notwithstanding  we  have  shown  by  the 
literal  meaning  of  the  word,  and  its  use  in  the  law, 
and  by  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Campbell,  who  has  the 
general  concurrence  of  learned  critics,  that  the  use  of 
this  word  cannot  be  relied  upon  as  proof  of  punish- 
ments contrary  to  the  words  of  the  law,  yet  I  will  give 
place  to  a  brief  consideration  of  this  pfrable. 

With  regard  to  the  'parabolic  character  of  this  pas- 
sage, though  occasionally  a  person  of  more  party  zeal 
than  knowledge  insists  on  taking  it  as  a  literal  nar- 
rative, there  is  rarely  an  intelligent  commentator 
who  will  adopt  a  position  so  untenable.  Lightfoot, 
after  ridiculing  the  idea  that  "this  is  not  a  parable, 
but  a  true  story,"  proceeds  to  say:  "And  that  it  was 


PENALTIES    OF    THE    LAW.  lOl 

a  parable,  not  only  the  consent  of  all  expositors  may- 
assure  us,  but  the  thing  itself  speaks  it.""' 

As  it  respects  the  elements  of  a  parable,  it  may  be 
composed  of  natural  incidents,  literal  facts,  or  fictitious 
narratives,  as  may  best  suit  the  design.  On  this  point 
Dr.  Barnes,  an  able  Presbyterian  commentator,  speaks 
with  great  clearness  and  truth,  as  follows :  A  parable 
''  is  a  narrative  of  some  fictitious  or  real  event,  in  order 
to  illustrate  more  clearly  some  truth  that  the  speaker 
wishes  to  communicate.  It  is  not  necessary  to  sup- 
pose that  the  narratives  were  strictly  true.  The  main 
thing, — the  inculcation  of  spiritual  truth, — was  gained 
equally,  whether  it  was  true,  or  was  only  a  supposed 
case.  Nor  was  there  any  dishonesty  in  this.  It  was 
well  understood.  No  person  was  deceived.  The 
speaker  was  not  understood  to  afiirm  the  thing  lit- 
erally narrated,  but  only  to  fix  the  attention  more 
firmly  on  the  moral  truth  that  he  presented."" 

The  remark  of  some,  that  the  story  of  the  Rich  Man 
and  Lazarus  is  not  a  parable,  because  the  Saviour 
says,  "  There  was  a  certain  rich  maii^''  is  too  puerile 
to  be  entitled  to  a  labored  notice.  So  parables  are 
usually  introduced,  not  by  a  supposition,  but  in  plain 
narrative  form.  So  the  other  parable  in  the  same 
chapter  begins, — "  There  was  a  certain  rich  man 
which  had  a  stcAvard."  And  even  the  parable  of 
Jotham  is  introduced  with  the  saying,  "The  trees 
went  forth  on  a  time  to  anoint  a  king  over  them."" 
But  enough  of  this. 

And  what  are  the  elements  of  the  story  which  Jesus 
employed  in  this  parable  ?  They  are  the  heathen  fabu- 
lous descriptions  of  the  under  world,  which  had  been 

«"  See  Paige's  Selections,  Sec,  xlix.        "  Barnes'  Notes,  on  Matt.  xii.  3—9. 
o  Judges  ix.  8. 

9^ 


102  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

partially  adopted  by  the  Jews.  To  the  entire  subter- 
ranean world  they  gave  the  name  hades.  This  they 
divided  into  two  departments,  Elysium,  the  blest 
abode,  and  Tartarus,  the  prison  of  fire, — between 
which  there  was  a  deep  gulf  or  chasm.  It  is,  indeed, 
generally  conceded,  that  the  story  employed  in  this 
parable  is  founded  on  Judaized  heathen  views  of  hades. 
Then  let  the  sectarian  make  the  most  of  it  possible, 
even  taking  it  as  a  literal  narrative,  and  he  cannot 
make  it  favor  the  doctrine  of  misery  in  the  final  im- 
mortal state,  beyond  the  resurrection.  For  admitting 
the  hades  of  the  New  Testament,  unlike  that  of  the 
Old,  to  be  as  the  poetic  fables,  and  this  story  too,  if 
taken  for  literal  truth,  would  represent  the  state  of  the 
deceased,  to  be  full  of  active  life,  and  of  enjoyment  in 
one  department,  and  of  suffering  in  the  other,  yet  the 
New  Testament  restricts  us  in  its  application  to  the 
intermediate  state.  In  the  event  of  the  resurrection 
hades  shall  be  destroyed,  and  the  triumphant  exclama- 
tion shall  be  raised  in  a  shout  of  ecstasy,  "  O  hades  ! 
lohere  is  thy  victory  ?  "  This  is  an  interrogatory  asser- 
tion, that  in  the  consummation  promised,  not  a  single 
victim  shall  hades  boast. 

Our  opposers  have  sometimes  tauntingly  said  to  us, 
''  There  is  an  account  of  a  rich  man  in  hell ;  how  will 
you  get  him  out?"  To  which  I  would  answer; 
There  is  an  account  that  this  same  hell,  or  hades^  shall 
be  destroyed,  so  that  no  victim  shall  be  held  in  it. 
And  when  all  men  are  raised  up  from  it,  and  hades 
itself  is  destroyed,  how  will  you  get  men  back  into 
hades  again? 

But  I  do  not  admit  that  this  parable  was  designed 
to  teach  the  doctrine  of  torment  even  in  the  interme- 
diate state.  Where  did  the  Jews  get  their  notions 
concerning  hades,  that  it  was  divided   into   Elysium 


WOR^§    DESIGNATING   PUNISHMENT.  10^ 

and  Tartarus,  a  place  of  happiness  and  of  misery? 
Not  from  their  Scriptures ;  for,^  as  it  is  conceded  by 
our  most  learned  doctrinal  opposers,  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Scriptures  teach  no  such  thing.  They  took 
this  view  from  the  corrupt  fables  of  the  heathen,  in 
their  intercourse  with  them  after  the  age  of  the  pro- 
phets, and  previous  to  the  coming  of  Christ.  And  that 
Jesns  laid  the  scene  of  this  story  in  those  heathen 
fables,  is  evident,  in  that  he  makes  the  parable  to  rep- 
resent the  places  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus  as  being 
on  a  level,  on  the  opposite  sides  of  a  great  gulf  or 
chasm,  precisely  like  the  heathen  fabulous  under  world 
of  Elysium  and  Tartarus.  But  the  occasion  on  which 
the  parable  was  spoken,  shows  that  Jesus  designed  to 
represent  by  it  the  then  approaching  change  of  condi- 
tions with  Jews  and  Gentiles  in  this  world,  when  the 
former  should  be  cast  down  and  trodden  under  foot,  and 
the  latter  be  exalted.  And  the  sequel  shows,  that 
though  Jesus  employed  a  story,  which  should  call  to 
the  minds  of  the  Jews  those  heathen  fables  which  they 
had  borrowed,  he  did  it  not  to  give  his  sanction  to 
those  fables,  but  to  reprove  and  shame  them  for  their 
adherence  to  them.  For,  in  reference  to  the  heathen 
habits  of  necromancy,  or  conversation  with  the  dead,  the 
parable  makes  the  rich  man  to  request  that  one  should 
be  sent  from  the  dead  to  instruct  the  Jews,  and  save 
them  from  the  evil  unto  which  they  were  hastening. 
But  the  answer  is,  ''  They  have  Moses  and  the  prophets; 
let  them  hear  them."  Let  them  hear  Moses  and  the 
prophets  about  what?  Surely  not  about  torment  in 
hades^  for  they  never  said  a  word  about  it.  Moses 
assured  the  people,  as  we  have  seen,  (Deut.  xxix.,) 
that  all  the  ciirs&s  ivritteii  in  the  book  of  the  law^  should 
be  executed  on  transgressors,  so  as  to  be  witnessed  in 


104  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

the  land  of  their  residence,  in  which  they  should  prac- 
tise their  sinful  abominations.  Yes,  Moses,  and  the 
prophets  too,  said  much  about  those  temporal  calami- 
ties to  which  that  nation  would  expose  themselves  by 
sin.  And  here  Jesus  makes  his  parable  say  of  the 
Jews,  "  Let  them  hear  Moses  and  the  prophets."  As 
if  he  had  said;  "Abandon  your  resort  to  heathen 
fables,  concerning  torments  in  the  state  of  the  dead, 
and  go  back  to  your  own  sacred  Scriptures,  to  Moses 
and  the  prophets,  and  give  heed  to  their  instructions 
and  warnings,  concerning  those  real  evils  to  which 
you  are  exposed,  and  which  are  even  at  your  doors." 
An  unfortunate  parable  is  this  for  the  doctrine  of 
future  torments.  The  story  borrows  its  imagery  from 
the  fables  of  the  heathen,  for  the  purpose  of  being 
so  applied  as  to  convey  to  the  Jews  the  more  cutting 
reproof  for  having  adopted  those  corrupt  human  for- 
geries, and  with  more  striking  emphasis  to  command 
them  back  to  the  Scriptures  which  they  had  neglected. 
I  have  now  devoted  as  much  attention  as  my  limits 
will  admit,  to  the  three  terms  which  have  been 
thought  to  designate  a  place  of  punishment  in  the  im- 
mortal world.  These  terms  are  Hades.  Gehenna^  and 
Tartarus.  Sheol  we  merge  in  hades,  which  the  Sep- 
tuagint  employs  as  a  translation  of  it.  Every  occur- 
rence of  Gehenna  and  Taj^tanis  has  been  examined, 
and  not  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  rests  upon  either  case, 
as  to  its  application,  when  applied  to  punishment,  to 
sufferings  in  the  present  world.  I  have  not  adduced 
all  the  cases  of  the  use  of  hades,  because  my  limits 
would  not  admit  it,  and  the  labor  were  needless.  It  is 
not  pretended  by  the  learned  believers  in  endless  pun- 
ishment, that  this  word  is  used  in  the  Scriptures  to  de- 
scribe it ;  and  if  it  were  so  pretended,  we  have  given  so 


PENALTIES    OF    THE    LAW.  105 

full  a  definition  of  its  meaning,  and  have  gone  so  far 
in  exposition  of  its  Scripture  use,  as  to  evince  that  an 
attempt  to  raise  the  disputed  doctrine  from  it  must 
obviously  be  futile,  and  to  enable  the  reader  to  explain 
every  other  case  of  its  occurrence,  by  the  connexions, 
repectively,  in  which  it  may  be  found. 

IV.  We  come  now  to  the  qualifying  terms,  some- 
times applied  to  punishment,  expressive  of  duration. 
These  are  forever ^  everlastings  and  eternal.  In  the 
Septuagint,  and  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament, 
they  are  avon^  and  its  derivative,  aionios. 

Upon  the  meaning  of  these  words,  Professor  Stuart, 
in  his  Exegetical  Essays,  assumes  that  the  proper  sig- 
nification of  aion  and  aionios^  as  used  by  the  Greek 
writers  of  the  Septuagint  and  New  Testament,  is 
eternity  and  eternal^  and  that  when  they  are  used  in  a 
limited  sense,  it  is  a  catachrestic^  or  forced  and  unnatu- 
ral usage.  Yet  he  has  presented  no  facts  to  support 
such  an  assumption.  He  has  given  us  no  authority 
for  departing  from  the  following  definition  of  aion^  by 
his  learned  orthodox  brother,  Dr.  Parkhurst.  ^^Aion, 
from  aeij  always,  and  otz,  being,  always  being.  It 
denotes  duratiG^^  or  continuance  of  time,  but  with 
great  variety."  This  he  gives  as  the  p?vper  and  radi- 
cal meaning  of  the  word,  ^^  duration,  or  contiiiuance 
of  time ;^^  and  then  adds,  "but  with  great  variety." 
He  then  gives  examples  of  diiferent  uses  of  the  word, 
by  reference  to  certain  places  of  Scripture,  of  which 
places  every  reader  of  the  Bible  is  to  judge  for  himself. 

But  you  will  say  that  if  aion  is  compounded  of  aei, 
always,  and  on,  being,  then  the  radical  meaning  of  the 
word  is  endless  duration,  or  eternity.  Let  us  look 
then  at  the  signification  of  the  word  aei,  which  is  the 
component  part  of  aion  that  applies  to  duration,  and  is 


106  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

rendered  always.  ^^Aei,  from  a,  intensive,  and  eo,  to 
be."  1.  Ahvays,  ever.  Acts  vii.  51, — "Ye  do  always 
resist  the  Holy  Ghost ;  as  your  fathers  did,  so  do  ye." 
2  Cor.  vi.  10, — "As  sorrowful,  yet  always  rejoicing." 
These  are  the  only  cases  which  Parkhurst  brings  to 
support  his  strongest  sense  of  the  Greek  aei ;  and  in 
these,  the  reader  perceives  that  the  word  means  no 
more  than  continual.  His  second  definition  is,  ^'At- 
waySj  ever^  in  a  restrained  seftse,  i.  e.  at  some  stated 
times."  And  third,  "  Very  frequently^  continually.' - 
And  to  these  definitions  he  quotes  Mark  xv.  8, — "And 
the  multitude,  crying  aloud,  began  to  desire  him 
(Pilate)  to  do  as  he  had  ever  done  unto  them."  And 
2  Cor.  iv.  11, — "  For  we  which  live  are  always  delivered 
unto  death  for  Jesus'  sake."  And  2  Peter  i.  12, — 
"Wherefore  I  will  not  be  negligent  to  put  you  always 
in  remembrance  of  these  things."  Such  is  the  signifi- 
cation, and  such  the  Scripture  use,  of  the  word  aez^ 
which  with  the  word  o?^,  beings  makes  aion,  the  Greek 
term  under  consideration.  It  is  plain  therefore  that 
the  proper  and  radical  meaning  of  this  word  is,  as 
Parkhurst  has  defined  it,  simply  duration^  or  continu- 
ance of  time ;  i7idefi?iite  duration.  When,  therefore,  we 
undertake  to  defitie  the  duration  expressed  by  it,  we 
must  do  this  by  arguing  from  the  nature  of  the  subject 
to  which  it  is  applied.  The  same  remarks  will  apply 
to  the  adjective  aionios,  which,  as  Professor  Stuart 
remarks  in  his  Essays,  p.  39,  corresponds  in  meaning 
with  aion,  the  substantive. 

Thus  much  I  have  thought  proper  to  lay  before  the 
reader  with  regard  to  aio7i  and  aio7iios,  to  show  that 
when  one  assumes  that  the  proper  signification  af 
these  words  is  eternity  and  eternal,  he  assumes  a  false 
position ;  that  the  proper  signification  of  these  words  is 


WORDS    QUALIFYING    PUNISHMENT.  107 

dnratlon  i?ideJinUe ;  and  that  consequently  whoever 
asserts  that  either  aion  or  aionios  does  in  any  given 
case  apply  to  ejidless  duration,  is  bound  to  support  his 
assertion  by  argument  from  the  connexion  or  the 
nature  of  the  subject. 

I  admit,  however,  that  a  word  may  become  gradu- 
ally changed  by  use,  until  it  comes  to  be  commonly 
employed  in  a  sense  quite  different  from  its  radical 
meaning.  If  any  assert  that  this  was  the  case  with 
aion  in  the  time  of  the  Greek  writers  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, that  it  had  then  come  into  use  to  signify,  prop- 
erly, or  by  its  own  force,  eteniity  or  endless  dura- 
tion^ let  the  assertion  be  judged  by  the  facts  which 
appear  in  the  Scripture  use  of  this  word.  I  have 
examined  351  cases  of  the  use  of  aion  and  aionios  in 
the  Septuagint,  which  comprise  nearly  all  the  cases  of 
their  occurrence  in  the  Old  Testament.  In  those  cases 
which  I  have  examined,  they  are  rendered  by  the 
English  words  ever^  forever^  everlast'mg^  and  eternal. 
In  220  of  these  cases  the  words  are  applied  to  the 
duration  of  times,  things,  and  events,  in  the  earth. 
This  I  think  no  man,  on  examining  each  case,  would 
dispute.  In  the  remaining  131  cases,  the  words  are 
applied  to  God,  his  attributes,  his  praise,  the  kingdom 
of  the  Messiah,  and  of  the  saints,  &c.  Thus  in  nearly 
iii'o  thirds  of  the  instances  of  the  use  of  aion  and  aio- 
nios in  the  Greek  of  the  Old  Testament,  they  are  used 
in  application  to  Hmited  duration  of  times  and  things  on 
earth.  Does  this  look  like  these  words  having  come  into 
use  to  signify,  by  their  own  force,  eternity  and  eternal? 
Far  from  it.  Their  Scripture  use  is  according  to  their 
radical  meaning,  duration^  or  continuance  of  time^  the 
extent  of  which  is  to  be  determined  in  each  case  from 
the  subject.     And  in  many  of  the  remaining  131  cases 


108  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

of  the  use  of  aion  and  aionios  in  the  Old  Testament,  it 
does  not  appear  that  the  sacred  writers  in  using  them 
grasped  the  idea  of  eternity.  When  appUed  to  the 
'praise  of  God^  and  the  displays  of  his  goodness, 
though  these  will  continue  eternally,  it  does  not  ap- 
pear that  the  sacred  writers  by  the  use  of  aion  meant 
to  express  anything  more  than  continual,  perpetual,  or 
from  age  to  age.  The  phrase,  from  generation  to 
generation,  is  sometimes  used  as  a  repetition  of  the 
same  idea  that  had  just  been  expressed  by  aion,  for^ 
ever,  ils  in  Lam.  v.  19, — "  Thou,  O  Lord,  remainest 
forever;  thy  throne /rom  generation  to  generation^ 
Now  we  may  as  well  argue  that  the  phrase,  from, 
generation  to  generation,  expresses  by  its  own  proper 
force  eternal  duration,  because  it  is  applied  to  the  con- 
tinuance of  God's  throne,  as  that  aion  expresses  by  its 
own  proper  force  eternal  duration,  because  it  is  ap- 
plied to  the  continuance  of  God's  existence.  And 
with  as  much  propriety  might  it  be  said  that  the  pro- 
per signification  of  the  adjective  great,  is  infinite, 
because  it  is  often  applied  to  the  Divine  Being. 

Because  the  word  aion  did  not,  with  the  Greek 
writers  of  the  Scriptures,  properly  signify  eternity., 
they  would  frequently  repeat  the  word,  when  they 
would  express  great  extent  of  duration,  and  some- 
times in  the  plural  number,  and  add  in  some  cases 
the  adverb  eti,  which  signifies  yet,  still,  or  farther. 
As  in  Ex.  xiv.  18, — "The  Lord  shall  reign  (ton 
aiona,  kai  ep  aiona,  kai  eti)  age  upon  age,  or  forever 
and  ever,  and  farther."  And  Dan.  xii.  3, — ''They 
shall  shine  as  the  stars  {eis  ton  aiona,  kai  eti)  to  the 
age,  or  forever,  and  farther."  And  Micah  iv.  5, — 
*'  We  will  loalk  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  our  God,  {eis 
ton  aioUj  kai  epekeina,)  forever,  and  beyond  it^    Now 


PENALTIES    OF    THE    LAW.  109 

to  substitute  the  word  eternity  for  aion^  in  such  cases, 
reading  from  eternity  to  eternity^  and  fartJier^  would 
make  perfect  nonsense.  The  Scripture  writers  ex- 
press the  idea  of  God's  eternity^  by  different  methods, 
speaking  of  him  as  self -existent^  immortal^  U7ichange- 
ablej  of  whose  years  there  shall  be  no  end^  &c.  And  so 
is  the  endless  continuance  of  the  future  state  of  human 
existence  in  purity  and  happiness  expressed,  by  its 
immortality,  incorruptibiUty,  spirituality,  heavenli- 
ness ;  (1  Cor.  xv.  42 — 49 ;)  by  the  saying  that  they 
shall  die  no  more^  (Luke  xx.  36 ;)  and  shall  be  made 
alive  in  and  with  him  who  is  made  after  the  power  of 
akatalutos^  endless  or  indissoluble  life,  (Heb.  vii.  16.) 
But  it  has  been  sufficiently  shown  that  this  idea  of 
God's  eternity,  and  the  endless  continuance  of  the 
future  happy  existence  of  men,  is  not  expressed  by  the 
natural  force  of  the  words  aion  and  aionios.  The 
word  aionios  therefore,  connected  with  the  punish- 
ment  of  the  wicked^  is  not  the  least  proof  of  its  endless 
duration.  Neither  in  the  nature  and  design  of  punish- 
ment, is  there  any  thing  from  which  you  can  argue  its 
unlimited  duration.  Even  the  reverse  is  shown  in  the 
first  section  of  this  chapter.  There  are  frequent  men- 
tions made  in  the  Scriptures  of  cases  in  which  God  had 
then,  already,  judged  and  punished  the  wicked  ac- 
cording to  their  doings,  even  according  to  all  their 
abmninationsy  It  is  manifest,  therefore,  that  the  pim- 
ishing  of  the  wicked  according  to  their  doings  is  not 
an  endless^  an  unlimited  work ;  and  the  word  aionios 
cannot  make  it  so.  But  if  one  asserts  that  there  is  an 
unlimited  punishment,  and  that  any  particular  passage 
speaks  of  it,  this  must  be  made  out,  not  from  the  word 

p  Ps.  ix.  4  ;  Ixxvi.  8,  9.     Isa.  xl.  2.    Ezek.  vii.  8  ;  xxxvi.  19. 

10 


110  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

aio7iios,  but  by  sbowing  that  the  givien  passage  speaks 
of  i\iQ  future  and  Ji?ial  condition  of  mankind. 

But  this,  judging  from  what  has  been,  I  think  none 
will  undertake.  After  all  the  concessions  in  relation  to 
the  literal  meaning  and  various  uses  of  the  word,  when 
the  attempt  is  made  to  prove  the  eternity  of  punish- 
ment, the  reliance  is  found  to  be  placed  upon  the  mere 
force  of  the  word  aionios  (everlasting  or  eternal) 
itself  No  effort  is  made,  because  there  is  no  ground 
of  success,  to  prove  by  arguments  independent  of  the 
disputed  ivord^  that  the  subject  of  discourse  in  the 
given  case  is  man's  immortal  and  final  state.  But  no- 
thing can  be  more  conclusively  settled  than  is  the 
position  that  the  natural  force  of  aionios  cannot  prove 
that  to  be  endless,  which  is  in  its  very  nature  limited. 

With  regard  to  the  legal  covenant  by  Moses,  on 
whose  penalties  we  have  been  treating,  it  in  no  case 
employs  the  word  aionios  in  application  to  punishment, 
unless  we  may  regard  in  this  light  a  few  cases  like 
the  following  :  (Ex.  xxi.  5,  6  :)  "  And  if  the  servant 
(when  entitled  to  freedom  on  the  seventh  year)  shall 
plainly  say,  I  love  my  master,  my  wife,  and  my  chil- 
dren, I  will  not  go  out  free;  then  his  master  shall 
bring  him  unto  the  judges,  and  his  master  shall  bore 
his  ear  through  with  an  awl,  and  he  shall  serve  him 
forever.''^  This  everlasting  service  may  be  deemed  by 
some  a  punishment  for  the  servant's  refusal  to  accept 
his  freedom,  but  it  is  not  endless. 

An  examination  of  the  principal  cases  of  the  use  of 
aionios  in  relation  to  punishment,  in  other  parts  of  the 
Bible,  will  most  admirably  confirm  the  view  which 
we  have  now  taken  of  both  the  radical  and  Scriptural 
meaning  of  the  word  before  us.  But  this  examina- 
tion, and  likewise  additional  instruction  on  the  legal 


WORDS    QUALIFYING   PUNISHMENT.  HI 

penalties,  will  be  embraced  in  the  following  chapter, 
on  the  subject  of  judgment. 

In  concluding  this  chapter,  I  will  ask  the  reader  to 
"hold  fast"  the  important  sentiment  which  it  estab- 
lishes, and  bear  it  along  with  him  as  he  investigates 
the  different  parts  of  the  complete  Compend  of  Divin- 
ity. We  have  found  the  penalties  to  harmonize  in 
spirit  and  purpose  with  the  purpose  of  the  law,  which 
God  instituted  in  love  for  the  good  of  his  children, — 
adapted,  not  to  thwart,  but  to  promote  the  design  of 
the  Supreme  Legislator,  in  subjecting  his  moral  crea- 
tures to  established  rules  of  health  and  happiness. 
We  have  seen  also  that  no  Scripture  word,  descriptive 
of,  or  qualifying  punishment,  throws  any  shade  of 
darkness  over  this  beautiful  light  of  the  subject.  Thus 
is  Jehovah  honored  as  LAW-GIVER ; — and  shall  he 
not  be  equally  honored  as  JUDGE  7     Come  and  see. 


CHAPTER    VI 


JUDGMENT. 


"  For  all  his  ways  are  judgment."^* 

No  reasonable  person  can  feel  indifferent  with  regard 
to  the  judgment  of  that  almighty  Ruler,  to  whom  we 
are  all  accountable,  and  whose  goyernment  disposes  of 
us.  Perhaps  no  word  has  been  more  abused  in  its  ap- 
plication, than  has  the  word  judgment  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, in  its  popular  use  by  modern  theologians. 
Rather  than  being  understood  of  those  wise  decisions 
of  God,  by  which  his  government  is  in  all  things 
directed  for  the  wholesome  discipline  and  ultimate  sub- 
jection of  his  moral  universe,  it  has  been  applied  to  a 
supposed  future  grand  assemblage  of  the  human  race, 
to  hear  at  once  an  arbitrary  sentence,  pronouncing 
their  final  doom.  So  familiar  has  been  this  applica- 
tion of  the  word  judgment  in  its  theological  use,  that 
most  persons,  at  the  mere  sound  of  the  word,  are  car- 
ried in  their  thoughts  to  such  an  assemblage  of  all 
mankind,  receiving  their  final  sentence. 

.  But  we  are  persuaded  that  this  view  of  the  judg- 
ment of  God  does  not  redound  to  the  praise  of  his 
glory.  It  does  not  represent  him  as  the  governor  of 
mankind  for  their  good.  We  are  satisfied  that  by  a 
careful  attention  to  the  Scriptures,  we  shall  find  this 
subject  presented  in  a  more  pleasing  and  profitable 
light.  We  shall  be  presented  with  that  adorable  view 
of  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God  in  his  moral  gov- 
ernment, which  will  inspire  us  with  confidence  and 

a  Deut.  xxxii.  4. 


JUDGMENT.  113 

love  towards  him,  and  a  filial  reverential  fear  before 
him. 

We  are  informed  concerning  God,  in  the  words  of 
inspiration  which  head  this  chapter,  that  "all  his 
ways  are  judgment."  The  original  word  which  is 
here  rendered  judgment,  and  from  which  the  word 
judgment  generally  comes  in  the  Scriptures,  signifies, 
in  its  most  literal  definition,  lights  discernment^  and  de- 
cision. From  the  same  root  comes  the  Latin  cerno^  to 
discern  or  see.  With  God,  therefore,  judgment  is  a 
discernment  and  decision  of  what  is  right.  It  is 
sometimes  used  to  express  his  discernment  and  decision 
of  what  is  right  in  general;  sometimes,  his  discern- 
ment and  decision  of  what  is  right  in  particular 
cases ;  and  not  unfrequently  it  signifies  the  execution 
of  these  Divine  decisions.  In  the  words,  ''all  his 
ways  are  judgment,"  the  sentiment  expressed  is,  that 
all  the  ways  and  works  of  God  proceed  upon  a  wise 
and  just  decision  of  what  is  good  and  right. 

But  we  shall  not  attempt  at  present  to  examine  the 
judgment  of  God  in  all  his  ways.  It  must  sufiice  for 
the  labors  of  this  chapter,  to  consider  the  judgment  of 
God  in  the  ways  of  his  government  and  discipline  over 
his  intelligent  and  moral  creatures. 

I.  The  first  step  in  the  establishment  of  a  moral 
government  over  mankind,  was  the  giving  to  them 
of  suitable  laws.  And  though  this  work  of  God  is  not 
usually  designated  in  the  Scriptures  by  the  term  judg- 
ment, yet  this  is  one  of  the  "ways"  of  God,  which 
required  and  received  the  direction  of  true  and  perfect 
judgment.  If  laws  had  been  given  without  a  right  dis- 
cernment and  decision,  they  might  have  been  unsuited 
to  the  constitution,  the  capacity,  the  wants  and  cir- 
cumstances of  mankind.  But  God  has  wisely  adapted 
10=^ 


114  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

his  laws  to  the  constitution  of  his  creatures,  for  the 
promotion  of  their  happiness.  He  did  not  give  laws 
to  his  creatures  for  his  own  benefit ;  nor  was  it  either 
for  their  injury,  or  for  mere  sport ;  but  it  was  for  their 
good.  He  knew  man,  he  knew  his  capacities  and 
wants;  for  he  created  hira.  And  he  failed  not  to 
institute  such  laws  as  evince  the  perfection  of  his 
judgment. 

Hence  David  sang  in  those  strains  of  grateful  praise, 
which  we  transcribed  into  the  preceding  chapter; 
'-'■  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the  soul ; 
the  testimony  of  the  Lord  is  sure,  making  wise  the 
simple.  The  statutes  of  the  Lord  are  right,  rejoicing 
the  heart;  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  is  pure, 
enlightening  the  eyes.  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  clean, 
enduring  forever ;  the  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true 
and  righteous  altogether.  More  to  be  desired  are  they 
than  gold,  yea,  than  much  fine  gold;  sweeter  also 
than  honey,  and  the  honey-comb.  Moreover  by  them 
is  thy  servant  warned,  and  in  keeping  of  them  there 
is  great  reward.'""  And  the  wisdom  of  God  says  to 
the  children  of  men,  ''My  son,  forget  not  my  law; 
but  let  thine  heart  keep  my  commandments;  for 
length  of  days,  and  long  life,  and  peace,  shall  they 
add  to  thee.  Let  not  mercy  and  truth  forsake  thee ; 
bind  them  about  thy  neck  ;  write  them  upon  the  tablet 
of  thine  heart :  so  shalt  thou  find  favor,  and  good  un- 
derstanding in  the  sight  of  God  and  man.""  Again, 
"Great  peace  have  they  that  love  thy  law,  and  no- 
thing shall  offend  them."" 

A  good  understanding  of  this  subject  is  of  indis- 
pensable importance  to  the  moral  health  of  the  com- 
munity.    There  are  many,  including  even  some  pro- 

b  Ps.  xix.  7—11.  c  Prov.  iii.  1—4.  <i  Ps.  cxix.  165. 


JUDGMENT.  115 

fessors  of  religion,  who  seem  to  imagine  that  the  law 
of  God  is  an  arbitrary  rule,  imposing  restraints  and 
penances,  which  are  inconsistent  with  their  best  earthly 
enjoyment.  Of  what  exceeding  value  Avould  it  be 
to  them  to  know,  that  tlie  laws  of  God  respect 
solely  the  moral  and  physical  health  and  happiness 
of  men.  Then  would  they  say,  in  the  language  of  the 
Psalmist,  "I  hate  and  abhor  lying;  but  thy  law  do  I 
love." 

II.  I  will,  in  the  second  place,  bring  to  view,  in  its 
Scripture  light,  the  judgment  of  God,  in  relation  to 
discipline,  or  to  the  execution  of  rewards  and  punish- 
ments on  men  according  to  their  treatment  of  the  law. 
It  is  to  this  operation  of  the  Divine  government  that 
the  word  judgment  is  most  commonly  applied  in  the 
Scriptures,  when  used  in  relation  to  the  ways  of  God. 
And  I  expect  to  show  that  the  judgment  of  God  in  this 
respect,  is  not  the  mere  pronunciation  of  an  arbitrary 
sentence  on  the  human  race  at  the  end  of  time,  but 
that  it  is  an  ever  operative  branch  of  the  Divine  gov- 
ernment, taking  continual  cognizance  of  the  actions  of 
men,  deciding  and  executing  what  is  right  in  relation 
to  every  man's  deserts. 

If  we  suppose  that  God  permits  men  to  sin  without 
a  retribution  in  the  present  life,  and  that  in  the  future 
world  he  will  execute  a  judgment  which  shall  shut 
the  door  of  reformation  and  of  mercy  against  millions 
of  his  creatures,  and  doom  them  to  wickedness  and  woe 
forever, — we  thus  ascribe  to  God  a  judgment  which 
is  in  opposition  to  the  spirit  of  his  law.  For  we  have 
seen  that  he  gave  his  children  laws  in  love,  having  no 
design  therein  but  their  good.  Therefore  the  retribu- 
tive judgment  of  God,  which  is  according  to  the  spirit 
of  his  law,  will  emplov  no  penalty  or  punishment  but 


116  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

what  is  consistent  with  a  regard  to  the  good  of  man- 
kind. 

Indeed,  the  retributive  judgment  of  God  is  the  dis- 
cernment of  human  desert,  and  the  execution  of  the 
awards  provided  in  the  law.  Therefore  we  shall  not 
find  in  the  Scripture  records  of  judgment,  the  revela- 
tion of  any  new  principle  of  retribution,  but  of  the 
execution,  the  carrying  into  effect,  of  the  provisions  of 
the  law,  with  regard  to  the  recompense  of  human 
doings.  Consequently  the  subject  of  this  chapter  is 
but  the  carrying  out  of  the  principles  embraced  in  the 
two  preceding,  on  the  Law  and  its  Penalties.  The 
LAW,  the  PENALTIES,  and  the  JUDGMENT,  will 
be  found  to  constitute  three  connected  links  in  that 
golden  chain  of  '^  CHRISTIAN  DIVINITY,"  which, 
encircling  the  intelligent  creation,  is  fastened  to  the 
throne  of  God. 

I  have  said  that  the  retributive  judgment  of  God 
is  not  the  mere  passing  of  an  arbitrary  sentence  on  the 
human  race  at  the  end  of  time,  but  that  it  is  an  ever 
operative  branch  of  the  Divine  government,  continu- 
ally taking  cognizance  of  the  actions  of  men,  deciding 
and  executing  what  is  right  in  relation  to  every  man's 
deserts.  In  support  of  this  position  we  have  the  full 
and  lucid  evidence  of  Scripture.  See  the  commence- 
ment of  this  administration  of  judgment,  with  the 
commencement  of  God's  exercise  of  his  moral  gov- 
ernment over  his  children.  To  the  first  pair  of  our 
race,  God  delivered  his  law,  which  they  soon  trans- 
gressed. The  law  threatened,  as  its  penalty  in  case 
of  disobedience,  an  evil  which  is  expressed,  in  the 
record,  by  the  appellation  death^  to  be  suffered  by 
them  on  the  day  in  which  they  should  transgress. 
And  on  tlin  same  day  when  they  had  contracted  the 


JUDGMENT.  117 

guilt  of  sin,  the  judgment  was  set,  the  account  was 
opened,  and  sentence  was  pronounced  in  accordance 
with  the  law.  And  there  was  no  evil  here  embraced, 
either  in  the  previous  threatening  of  the  law,  or  in  the 
subsequent  award  of  the  judgment,  that  extended  far- 
ther than  to  the  time  when  they  should  '-^return  unto 
thedusV 

We  will  pass  on  to  the  case  of  that  heinous  sinner, 
that  first  murderer,  Cain.  When  he  had  wickedly  slain 
his  brother,  his  Maker  and  Lawgiver  called  him  to 
judgment.  The  Judge  said  unto  the  criminal,  "What 
hast  thou  done  ?  The  voice  of  thy  brother's  blood 
crieth  unto  me  from  the  ground."  Thus  he  is  pro- 
nounced guilty  of  the  crime.  And  here  follows  the 
sentence:  ''And  now  art  thou  cursed  from  the  earth, 
which  hath  opened  her  mouth  to  receive  thy  brother's 
blood  from  thy  hand.  When  thou  tillest  the  ground 
it  shall  not  henceforth  yield  unto  thee  her  strength. 
A  fugitive  and  a  vagabond  shalt  thou  be  on  the 
earth."*"  This  was  not  a  mere  inelude  to  a  punish- 
ment. It  was  not  the  doing  of  an  inferior  court,  bind- 
ing over  to  a  future  judgment  for  the  same  offence.  It 
was  Cain's  full  and  final  judgment  for  that  crime; 
and  it  caused  him  to  cry  out  in  the  anguish  of  his 
soul,  "My  punishment  is  greater  than  I  can  bear." 

Passing  a  little  further  on  in  the  sacred  record,  we 
come  to  the  judgment  of  the  old  world,  which  was 
drowned  by  the  waters  of  a  flood.  "And  God  said 
unto  Noah,  the  end  of  all  flesh  is  come  before  me ;  for 
the  earth  is  filled  with  violence,  through  them;  and 
behold,  I  will  destroy  them  from  the  earth."  °  Ac- 
cordingly the  Lord  brought  a  flood  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth,  which  destroyed  all  flesh,  except  Noah  and 

e  Gen.  iii.  16—19.  f  Gen.  iv.  9—12.  &  Gen.  vi.  13. 


118  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

them  that  were  with  him  in  the  ark.  In  this  case  of 
judgment,  the  crime  proved  is  the  general  depravity 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  world ;  the  sentence  pro- 
nounced and  executed,  is,  their  destruction  from  the 
earth ;  and  the  object  seems  to  be  the  putting  of  a  stop  . 
to  this  prevaihng  wickedness,  and  the  purification  of 
the  earth,  to  make  it  a  better  residence  for  other  gene- 
rations who  should  come. 

Further  on,  our  attention  is  arrested  by  the  narra- 
tive of  God's  judgment  on  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and 
the  cities  of  the  plain.  The  angels  of  the  Lord 
warned  Lot  to  escape  with  his  family  from  the  city  of 
Sodom,  saying,  "For  we  will  destroy  this  place, because 
the  cry  of  them  is  waxen  great  before  the  face  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  Lord  hath  sent  us  to  destroy  it."  ''  Then 
the  Lord  rained  upon  Sodom  and  upon  Gomorrah 
brimstone  and  fire  from  the  Lord  out  of  heaven.  And 
he  overthrew  those  cities,  and  all  the  plain,  and  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  cities,  and  that  which  grew 
upon  the  ground.'"^  Because  the  desolation  effected 
by  this  fire  was  designed  to  be  perpetual,  at  least  for 
many  ages,  St.  Jude  calls  it  aioiiion  fire.  He  speaks  of 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  as  being  set  forth  for. an  exam- 
ple to  others,  "  suffering  the  vengeance  of  aionion  fire."  ' 
And  what  Jude  calls  the  vengeance  of  aio?iion  fire, 
St.  Peter,  bringing  the  case  forward  for  an  example,  in 
the  same  manner,  expresses  by  their  being  turned  into 
ashes,  and  condemned  to  an  overthrow :  "  And  turning 
the  cities  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  into  ashes,  con- 
demned them  with  an  overthrow,  making  them  an  en- 
sample  unto  them  that  after  should  live  ungodly."^ 

Again,  with  regard  to  the  retributive  judgment  of 
God,  he  said  unto  Abraham,  "  Know  of  a  surety  that 

hGen.  xix.  13,  24,  25.  'Jude  7.  J  2  Pet.  ii.  6. 


JUDGMENT.  119 

thy  seed  shall  be  a  stranger  in  a  land  that  is  not  theirs, 
and  shall  serve  them ;  and  they  shall  afflict  them  four 
hundred  years.  And  also,  that  nation  whom  they 
shall  serve,  will  I  judge:  and  afterwards  shall  they 
come  out  with  great  substance." "^  This  judgment,  ac- 
cording to  the  word  of  God  to  Abraham,  was  indeed 
executed  on  Egypt,  when  God,  with  a  mighty  hand, 
delivered  the  Hebrews  from  iron  bondage  there.  And 
if  we  trace  the  history  of  the  dealings  of  God  with  his 
chosen  people,  the  Hebrews,  subsequently  to  their 
departure  out  of  Egypt,  we  shall  perceive  that  he 
kept  up  the  administration  of  his  moral  government 
by  the  exercise  of  an  operative  judgment.  He  did  not 
leave  them,  nor  indeed  this  whole  wide  world  of  moral 
bemgs,  without  a  judgment.  From  day  to  day,  from 
week  to  week,  and  from  year  to  year,  he  gave  them 
demonstrative  proof  of  what  the  Scriptures  declare, 
that  "Verily  he  is  a  God  that  judgeth  in  the  earth,"' 
and  that  "  The  righteous  shall  be  recompensed  in  the 
earth;  much  more  the  wicked  and  the  sinner.""" 

In  the  legal  covenant  which  God  gave  to  the  people 
by  Moses,  embracing  the  moral  law  which  had  been 
in  substance  communicated  to  all  generations  from  the 
beginning,  with  the  addition  of  a  ceremonial  institu- 
tion, he  announced  all  the  evils  to  which  they  might 
by  sin  be  subjected  on  the  score  of  punishment,  as 
well  as  all  the  blessings  to  which  they  might  be  en- 
titled by  their  virtue,  on  the  score  of  just  and  merited 
reward.  For  a  full  exposition  of  this  subject,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  preceding  chapter. 

AYith  regard  to  the  teachings  and  warnings  of  the 
prophets  concerning  the  retributive  judgment  of  God, 
they  are  all  founded  on  the  principles  of  the  Divine 

kGen.  XV.  13.  iPs.  Iviii.  11.  mProv.  xi.  31. 


120  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

laws  before  given,  through  the  patriarchs,  and  Moses. 
Their  teachings  and  warnings  on  this  subject  are  in 
unison  with  those  of  the  patriarchs  and  of  Moses,  pre- 
senting the  continued  exercise  of  judgment,  as  a  part 
of  the  ever  active  government  of  God,  over  his  moral 
and  accountable  creatures.  Solomon,  in  his  prayer  at 
the  dedication  of  the  temple,  uttered  this  petition  :  "  If 
any  man  trespass  against  his  neighbor,  and  an  oath 
be  laid  upon  him  to  cause  him  to  swear,  and  the  oath 
come  before  thine  altar  in  this  house,  then  hear 
thou  in  heaven,  and  do,  and  judge  thy  servants, 
condemning  the  wicked,  to  bring  his  way  upon  his 
head;  and  justifying  the  righteous,  to  give  him  ac- 
cording to  his  righteousness." "  Hence  we  perceive 
that  Solomon's  praying  was  in  accordance  with  his 
preaching.  When  he  prayed  that  God  would  judge 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  to  bring  upon  each  the 
just  recompense  of  his  doings,  his  prayer  was  in 
agreement  with  what  he  faithfully  preached;  as,  for 
instance,  in  the  passage  before  quoted,  "  Behold,  the 
righteous  shall  be  recompensed  in  the  earth,  much 
more  the  wicked  and  the  sinner." 

David,  speaking  of  the  then  present  and  continued 
operation  of  the  government  of  God,  said,  ''Also  unto 
thee,  O  Lord,  belongeth  mercy,  for  thou  renderest 
unto  every  man  according  to  his  work."  °  And  again, 
"God  judgeth  the  righteous,  and  God  is  angry  with 
the  wicked  every  day."  ^  This  judgment  and  anger 
of  the  Lord  are  spoken  of  as  being  exercised  simulta- 
neously, and  not  as  being  put  off  to  the  end  of  time. 
It  was  in  operation  every  day.  The  words,  "  with  the 
wicked,"  in  this  passage,  are  added  by  the  translators; 
but  the  succeeding  context  seems  to  require  the  supply 

n  1  Kings  viii.  31,  32.  "  Ps.  Ixii.  12,  pPs.  vii.  11. 


JUDGMENT.  ,  121 

of  these  words,  in  order  to  express  the  full  sense  of  the 
text.  The  anger  of  the  Lord  is  the  ardor  and  condemna- 
tory operation  of  his  government  against  the  Avicked; 
and  this,  forget  it  not,  is  every  day.  The  same  writer 
says  again,  "  The  Lord  is  known  by  the  judgment  which 
he  executeth."'^  Not  that  he  shall  never  be  known 
imtil  time  is  lost  in  the  bosom  of  eternity,  because  he 
shall  never  till  then  execute  judgment:  "The  Lord  is 
known  by  the  judgment  which  he  execiiteth  ;''^  for,  it  is 
added,  "  The  wicked  is  snared  in  the  work  of  his  own 
hands."  This  was  one  means  by  which  he  executed 
judgment  upon  them ;  it  was  by  snaring  them  in  their 
own  evils.  It  is  not  admitted  by  all,  that  those  evils 
which  men  suffer,  in  consequence  of  sin,  by  and  from 
their  own  iniquity,  are  punishments  proceeding  from 
the  judgment  of  God.  But  we  discover  from  the 
Scriptures  that  they  are  of  that  character.  It  was 
with  reference  to  those  very  evils  on  sinners  that  the 
Psalmist  said,  "  The  Lord  is  known  by  the  judgment 
which  he  executeth."  He  has  wisely  inwrought  a 
law  in  the  moral  and  physical  constitution  of  man, 
and  of  the  world  we  inhabit,  by  means  of  which  he 
executes  punishments  on  transgressors.  Accordingly, 
it  is  said  in  Pro  v.  v.  22,  "  His  own  iniquities  shall 
take  the  wicked  himself,  and  he  shall  be  holden  with 
the  cords  of  his  sins."  And  Jer.  ii.  19,  "Thine  own 
wickedness  shall  correct  thee,  and  thy  backslidings 
shall  reprove  thee." 

We  might  continue  our  quotations  from  the  Old 
Testament  to  a  great  length,  in  direct  support  of  the 
position  we  have  assumed,  with  regard  to  the  present 
and  continual  operation  of  the  retributive  judgment  of 

IPs.  ix.  16. 

11 


122  .  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

God.  But  a  few  more  quotations  must  suffice.  David, 
in  relation  to  the  judgment  of  God  affecting  his  own 
case,  said,  "  For  thou  hast  maintained  my  right  and 
my  cause ;  thou  sattest  in  the  throne,  judging  right.' 
And  in  prayer  he  said,  '*  Lift  up  thyself,  thou  Judge 
of  the  earth;  render  a  reward  to  the  proud."'  And 
with  reference  to  the  redemption  of  Israel,  when  the 
Egyptians  were  cutoff,  he  sang,  ''Thou  didst  cause 
judgment  to  be  heard  from  heaven;  the  earth  feared, 
and  was  still ;  when  God  arose  to  judgment,  to  save 
all  the  meek  of  the  earth."  t 

By  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  the  Lord  said  of  his  trans- 
gressing people,  ''  And  I  scattered  them  among  the 
heathen  5  *  *  *  ^  according  to  their  way,  and  ac- 
cording to  their  doings  I  judged  them."  "  And  address- 
ing Israel  concerning  punishments  which  were  about 
to  be  executed  upon  them,  he  said  by  the  same  pro- 
phet, "  Now  will  I  shortly  pour  out  my  fury  upon 
thee,  and  accomplish  mine  anger  upon  thee;  and  I 
will  judge  thee  according  to  thy  ways,  and  will  recom- 
pense thee  for  all  thine  abominations."  ^  And  the 
context  informs  us  that  the  means  by  which  this  judg- 
ment should  be  executed  upon  them,  to  recompense 
them  for  all  their  abominations,  were  "  the  sword 
without,  and  the  pestilence  and  famine  within."  It 
was  not  m  part,  that  the  judgment  of  God  on  earth 
should  recompense  them ;  it  was  for  all  their  sins. 
And  this  infliction  of  evil  upon  that  people  was  not  a 
mere  prelude,  a  shght  indication  of  what  should  be,  of 
the  execution  of  wrath  upon  them.  It  was  the  accom- 
plishment, the  recompense  in  full,  of  the  penal  suffer- 
ings to  which  they  were  justly  obnoxious.  "  I  will 
accomplish  mine  anger  upon  thee." 

rPs.  ix.  4.  »Ps.  xciv.  2  «■  Ps.  Ixxvi.  9. 

"Ezek.  xxxvi.  19.  '^Ezck.  vii.  8. 


JUDGMENT.  123 

In  full  confirmation  of  the  view,  which  we  have 
now  taken  of  the  subject  before  us,  as  it  is  presented 
in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  St.  Paul,  the  faith- 
ful apostle  of  Christ,  adds  the  following  conclusive 
testimony:  "For  if  the  word  spoken  by  angels  was 
steadfast,  and  every  transgression  and  disobedience 
received  a  just  recompense  of  reward ;  how  shall  we 
escape,  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation ;  which  at  the 
first  began  to  be  spoken  by  the  Lord,  and  was  con- 
firmed unto  us  by  them  that  heard  him  ?" '"  By  "  the 
word  spoken  by  angels,"  St.  Paul  meant  the  law;  for 
he  was  here  drawing  a  comparison  between  the  law  and 
gospel.  And  Stephen  said,  in  his  address  to  the  Jews, 
that  they  had  "received  the  law  by  the  disposition  of 
angels,  and  had  not  kept  it."*  St.  Paul  likewise  said 
to  the  Galatians,  that  "  the  law  was  ordained  by  angels 
in  the  hand  of  a  mediator."^  And  every  transgression 
of  the  law  received  a  just  recompense  of  reward.  AH 
the  people,  for  every  transgression  and  disobedience, 
received  a  just  recompense  of  reward,  through  the 
righteous  administration  of  the  judgment  of  him,  who 
"  searcheth  the  heart  and  trieth  the  reins,  even  to  give 
every  man  according  to  his  ways."  It  follows,  hence, 
as  a  conclusion  which  we  cannot  avoid,  even  if  we 
would,  that  it  is  not  the  manner  of  the  Divine  govern- 
ment, at  least,  that  it  was  not  in  those  former  ages,  to 
put  off"  to  the  future  world,  either  in  all  or  in  part,  the 
judgment  of  m.en  for  their  deeds  on  earth.  There 
was  no  lack  of  justice  in  God's  government  of  his 
family.     They  received  d^jiist  recompense  of  reward. 

III.  Under  the  preceding  head  we  have  brought  to 
view,  in  its  Scriptural  light,  the  judgment  of  God,  in 
relation  to  discipline^  or  to  the  execution  of  rewards 

w  Heb.  ii.  2,  3.  x  Acts  vii.  53.  v  Gal.  iii.  19. 


124  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

and  panishments  on  men,  according  to  their  treatment 
of  the  Divine  law.  The  same  judgment  will  be  the 
principal  subject  of  this  third  division ;  but  we  shall 
here  discuss  GodJs  judgment  of  the  world  by  Jesus 
Christ ;  and  chiefly  as  it  is  presented  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament. 

The  holy  prophets  had  spoken  beforehand  concern- 
ing the  judgment  of  Christ.  Isaiah  had  said,  in  evan- 
gelical prophecy,  "  Behold  my  servant  whom  I  uphold, 
mine  elect  in  whom  my  soul  delighteth ;  I  have  put 
my  spirit  upon  him,  and  he  shall  bring  forth  judg- 
ment to  the  Gentiles.  *  -^  A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not 
break,  and  the  smoking  flax  shall  he  not  quench ;  he 
shall  bring  forth  judgment  unto  truth."  (The  evan- 
gelist quotes  it  thus :  "He  shall  bring  forth  judgment 
unto  victory.")  "  He  shall  not  fail  nor  be  discour- 
aged, till  he  have  set  judgment  in  the  earth ;  and  the 
isles  shall  wait  for  his  law."'  It  appears  that  the 
word  judgment  is  here  used  for  Christ's  government 
or  kingdom.  When  he  should  set  judgment  in  the 
earth,  the  isles  should  wait  for  his  law.  That  is,  they 
should  wait  for  the  law  of  truth  and  love,  which  his 
judgment,  his  government  or  kingdom,  would  admin- 
ister. And  in  the  preceding  phrase,  "  He  shall  bring 
forth  judgment  to  the  Gentiles,"  the  meaning  seems  to 
be,  that  he  should  extend  to  the  Gentiles  the  benefits 
of  his  kingdom.  The  nature  and  operation  of  this 
government  or  kingdom  of  Messiah  is  learned  by  read- 
ing onwards.  "  Thus  saith  God,  the  Lord,  =^  =^  I  the 
Lord  have  called  thee  in  righteousness,  and  will  hold 
thine  hand  and  will  keep  thee,  and  give  thee  for  a  cov- 
enant of  the  people,  for  a  light  of  the  Gentiles ;  to  open 
the  blind  eyes,  to  bring  out  the  prisoners  from  the 

'  Isa,  xlii,  1 — 4. 


JUDGMENT.  125 

prison,  and  them  that  sit  in  darkness  out  of  the  prison- 
house."  It  is  hence  seen  that  the  judgment  of  Christ 
here  spoken  of,  is  a  kingdom  of  Hght,  truth  and  love, 
the  influence  of  which  deUvers  the  human  mind  from 
the  prison  of  darkness,  sin  and  death. 

This  judgment  of  Christ  was  again  spoken  of  by 
the  same  prophet,  as  follows:  "And  there  shall  come 
forth  a  rod  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse,  and  a  branch 
shall  grow  out  of  his  roots.  And  the  spirit  of  the 
Lord  shall  rest  upon  him,  *  ^-  and  shall  make  him 
quick  of  understanding  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord ;  and  he 
shall  not  judge  after  the  sight  of  his  eyes,  neither  re- 
prove after  the  hearing  of  his  ears :  but  with  right- 
eousness shall  he  judge  the  poor,  and  reprove  with 
equity  for  the  meek  of  the  earth ;  and  he  shall  smite 
the  earth  with  the  rod  of  his  mouth,  and  with  the 
breath  of  his  lips  shall  he  slay  the  wicked.'"-  Then 
follows  a  poetic  description  of  the  blessed  and  happy 
effects  of  this  execution  of  the  judgment  of  Christ,  in 
smiting  and  slaying  the  wicked  :  "  The  Avolf  also  shall 
dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard  shall  lie  down 
with  the  kid;  and  the  calf,  and  the  young  lion,  and 
the  fatling  together;  and  a  little  child  shall  lead 
them."  Such  is  the  prophet's  poetic  description  of 
the  loveliness  and  gentleness  of  the  moral  world,  to  be 
effected  by  the  judgment  or  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is,  perhaps,  the  prevailing  sentiment  in  the  pop- 
ular theology  of  our  day,  that  when  Christ  shall  sit 
upon  the  throne  of  his  glory  to  judge  the  children 
of  men.  the  execution  of  his  judgment  will  bar  the 
door  of  reformation  forever,  and  doom  all  sinners  to 
a  hardened  and  irrecoverable  state  of  sin  and  woe. 
But   such   a  judgment   the  wisdom  of  heaven  has 

'^  Isa.  xi.  1 — 4. 


126  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

never  planned,  nor  will  Christ  ever  execute  it.  All 
the  judgments  of  God  are  designed  to  effect  some 
change  for  good.  The  execution  of  the  judgment  of 
Christj  as  we  have  seen,  instead  of  sealing  forever  the 
eyes  of  the  blind,  and  barring  the  prison-doors  of 
sinners,  is  designed  to  open  the  blind  eyes,  to  break 
open  the  prison -doors,  and  to  bring  out  the  prisoners 
from  the  prison,  and  them  that  sit  in  darkness  out  of 
the  prison-house.  Instead  of  ordering  that  sinners 
shall  eternally  continue  in  sin,  it  will  smite  and  slay 
the  wicked,  so  that  the  most  stubborn  and  lion-like 
spirits  of  rebellion  shall  be  subdued  into  the  submissive 
gentleness  of  the  peaceful  lamb. 

After  speaking,  as  above  quoted,  of  the  judgment 
that  was  to  be  exercised  by  the  righteous  branch 
which  should  spring  forth  from  the  root  of  Jesse, 
the  prophet  adds,  ''And  in  that  day  there  shall  be  a 
root  of  Jesse,  which  shall  stand  for  an  ensign  of  the 
people ;  to  it  shall  the  Gentiles  seek ;  and  his  rest  shall 
be  glorious."  To  the  same  day,  and  to  the  same  judg- 
ment, St.  Paul  seems  to  have  had  reference,  when,  in 
his  address  to  the  Athenians,  he  said :  "And  the  times 
of  this  ignorance  God  winked  at;  but  now  command- 
cth  all  men  everywhere  to  repent;  because  he  hath 
appointed  a  day  in  the  which  he  will  judge  the  world 
in  righteousness  by  that  man  whom  he  hath  ordained; 
whereof  he  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men,  in  that 
he  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead.'"'  We  are  aware 
that  many  have  understood  this  to  speak  of  a  judg- 
ment in  the  future  world,  which  shall  decide  the  eter- 
nal states  of  men  according  to  their  characters  on  earth. 
But  this  would  make  entirely  without  sense,  the  reason 
which  the  apostle  assigns  why  the  ministry  of  repent- 
nnce  should  jioid.  more  than  in  former  ages,  be  sent 

'•  Acts  xvii.  30,  31. 


JUDGMENT.  127 

unto  all  men.  If  he  spoke  of  a  judgment  in  the  un- 
seen Avorld,  by  which  the  final  states  of  all  men  of  all 
ages  are  to  be  determined  according  to  their  conduct 
on  the  earth,  how  should  this  fact  be  a  reason  why  all 
men,  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews,  should  have  the  minis- 
try of  repentance  now^  more  than  in  the  former  ages? 
That  would  be  no  reason  for  such  a  difference.  But 
understanding  this  language  of  the  apostle  to  refer  to 
the  same  judgment,  and  the  same  day,  or  dispensa- 
tion of  judgment,  of  which  the  prophet  spake  in  the 
instances  we  have  quoted,  the  whole  appears  consist- 
ent. The  former  times  of  ignorance  with  the  Gentile 
nations,  God  winked  at,  or  suffered  to  remain.  The 
idea  is  expressed  in  Acts  xiv.  16,  in  other  words,  thus, 
— ''  Who  in  times  past  suffered  all  nations  to  walk  in 
their  own  ways."  The  revelations  of  God  in  former 
times  extended  not  unto  the  Gentiles.  But  God  had 
appointed  a  dispensation,  called  here,  as  in  the  pro- 
phet, a  day^  in  which  he  would  set  up,  by  Christ 
Jesus,  a  judgment  or  kingdom  of  light  and  truth, 
which  should  be  calculated  to  extend  its  benefits  to  all 
nations,  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews.  He  should  bring 
forth  judgment  to  the  Gentiles.  In  the  fulness  of  the 
appointed  time,  Christ  Jesus  came,  and  established  his 
judgment  in  the  world.  This  appointed  dispensation 
of  Christ's  kingdom  and  judgment  had  commenced  in 
St.  Paul's  time;  and  this  was  certainly  a  good  reason 
why  the  ministry  of  it,  calling  on  men  to  repent,  or 
turn  themselves  to  the  reception  of  its  saving  benefits, 
should  then  be  extended  to  all  men,  Gentiles  as  well 
as  Jews, — to  them  who  were  afar  off,  as  well  as  to 
them  who  were  nigh.  We  think  it  likely,  from  the 
similarity  of  expression,  that  St.  Paul  had  in  his  mind 
the  passage  above  quoted  from  the  prophet,  when  he 


128  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

addressed  this  to  the  Athenians.  For,  like  the  pro- 
phet, he  speaks  of  the  judgment  of  Christy  and  of  his 
''judging  in  righteousness,"  and  calls  the  time  of  his 
judging  "  a  day."  And  in  speaking  of  the  propriety  of 
calling,  at  that  time,  on  all  men  everywhere  to  repent, 
the  apostle  probably  had  his  mind  on  the  prophet's 
saying,  that  in  that  day  he  should  stand  as  an  ensign 
to  the  people,  unto  which  "the  Gentiles  should  seek." 
And  that  the  judgment  of  Christ  spoken  of  in  the  pas- 
sages which  we  have  quoted  from  the  prophet,  is  his 
kingdom,  which  commenced  on  earth  at  the  close  of 
the  Jewish  dispensation,  is  rendered  further  apparent 
by  St.  Matthew,  in  the  application  which  he  makes,  in 
his  Gospel,  of  one  of  these  prophetic  sayings:  (Matt.  xii. 
14,) — "  Then  the  Pharisees  went  out  and  held  a  council 
against  him  how  they  might  destroy  him.  But  when 
Jesus  knew  it,  he  withdrew  himself  from  thence;  and 
great  multitudes  followed  him,  and  he  healed  them 
all ;  and  charged  them  that  they  should  not  make  him 
known :  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken 
by  Esaias  the  prophet,  saying,  Behold  my  servant, 
whom  I  have  chosen ;  my  beloved,  in  whom  my  soul 
is  well  pleased  :  I  will  put  my  spirit  upon  him,  and  he 
shall  show  judgment  to  the  Gentiles.  He  shall  not 
strive,  nor  cry ;  neither  shall  any  man  hear  his  voice 
in  the  streets.  A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break, 
and  the  smoking  flax  shall  he  not  quench,  till  he  send 
forth  judgment  unto  victory.  And  in  his  name  shall 
the  Gentiles  trust." 

But  in  the  day  or  dispensation  of  the  judgment  or 
government  of  the  world  by  Jesus  Christ,  there  is  also 
a  retributive  judgment,  as  well  as  under  the  former 
dispensation.  St.  Paul  testifies,  that  "  God  will  render 
to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds;  to  them  who, 


JUDGMENT.  129 

by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  seek  for  glory, 
and  honor,  and  immortality,  {literally  incorruptness,] 
eternal  life ;  but  unto  them  that  are  contentious,  and 
do  not  obey  the  truth,  but  obey  unrighteousness, 
indignation  and  wrath ;  tribulation  and  anguish  upon 
every  soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil ;  but  glory,  honor, 
and  peace,  to  every  man  that  worketh  good;  to  the 
Jew  first,  and  also  to  the  Gentile ;  for  there  is  no 
respect  of  persons  with  God.  For  as  many  as  have 
sinned  without  law,  [i.  e.  without  the  written  law,] 
shall  also  perish  without  law ;  and  as  many  as  have 
sinned  in  the  law,  shall  be  judged  by  the  law,  *  *  in 
the  day  when  God  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men  by 
Jesus  Christ,  according  to  my  gospel.'""  It  is  hence 
perceived  that  the  judgment  of  God,  in  its  cognizance 
of  the  moral  actions  of  men,  is  the  same  now,  under 
the  reign  of  Jesus  Christ  by  his  gospel,  that  it  was 
under  the  reign  of  the  patriarchs,  and  of  Moses  and 
the  prophets,  by  their  inspired  teachings.  Then, 
every  work  was  brought  into  judgment,  and  every 
secret  thing,  and  there  was  verily  "a  reward  to  the 
righteous,"  and  "  every  transgression  received  a  just 
recompense  of  reward."  And  so  it  is  now,  when  God 
judges  the  works,  and  even  the  "secret  things"  of 
men,  by  Jesus  Christ.  He  will  render  to  every  man 
according  to  his  deeds.  He  will  award  tribulation 
and  anguish  to  every  one  that  doeth  evil ;  and  glory, 
honor,  and  peace,  to  every  one  that  doeth  good. 

God's  judgment,  under  the  (^ristian  dispensation, 
is  administered  on  the  same  priii^|j|e  on  which  it  was 
conducted  in  former  ages,  it  being  according  to  men's 
deserts ;  varying  in  its  awards,  of  course,  according 
to  the  different  degrees  of  guilt :  as  St.  Paul  said  in 

c  Rom.  ii.  6—16. 


130  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

his  address  to  the  Hebrews,  which  we  have  noticed, 
"If  the  word  spoken  by  angels  was  steadfast,  and 
every  transgression  received  a  just  recompense  of 
reward ;  how  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect  so  great 
salvation,  which  at  the  first  began  to  be  spoken  by 
the  Lord,  and  was  confirmed  unta  us  by  them  that 
heard  him."  This  great  salvation  is  the  record  of 
truth  and  grace  spoken  by  Christ  and  his  witnesses, 
and  confirmed  by  signs  and  wonders.  And  the  idea 
expressed  in  this  place  is,  that  if  the  Hebrews  should 
neglect  and  abuse  the  greater  opportunities  they  en- 
joyed from  these  more  full  and  mighty  proofs  of 
truth,  they  would  be  recompensed  with  sorer  calam- 
ities than  had  ever  been  suffered  by  their  fathers ; 
and  calamities,  too,  which  they  could  not  escape. 
For  if  others,  who  were  before  them,  received  a  full 
punishment  for  all  their  sins,  they,  for  their  greater 
sins,  could  not  escape  their  just,  their  greater  punish- 
ment. He  introduces  here  no  new  kind  of  judgment, 
set  up  in  another  world,  but  teaches  their  responsi- 
bility to  the  same  principle  of  judgment  which  had 
fully  recompensed  others  in  the  earth,  and  would 
recompense  them  with  a  punishment  no  more  severe 
than  in  proportion  as  their  guilt  was  greater. 

Concerning  the  greater  punishment  which  the  He- 
brews should  receive  in  the  judgment  coming  on  that 
generation,  and  which  should  be  especially  suffered 
by  any  Hebrew  Christians  who  should  apostatize,  the 
apostle  speaks  directly  in  Heb.  x.  28  :  "He  that  de- 
spised Moses'  law^i^ed  without  mercy,  under  two  or 
three  witnesses.  Of  how  much  sorer  punishment, 
suppose  ye,  shall  he  be  thought  worthy,  who  hath 
trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted 
the  blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith  he  was  sancti- 


JUDGMENT.  131 

fiedj  an  unholy  thing,  and  hath  done  despite  unto  the 
spirit  of  grace?"  That  this  relates  to  a  punishment 
which  should  be  administered  in  the  judgment  coming 
on  that  generation,  is  evident  from  what  precedes  the 
passage.  The  apostle  had  just  exhorted  the  Hebrews, 
saying,  "Let  us  hold  fast  the  profession  of  our  faith 
without  wavering,  for  he  is  faithful  that  promised; 
and  let  us  consider  one  another,  to  provoke  unto  love 
and  to  good  works ;  not  forsaking  the  assembling  of 
ourselves  together,  as  the  manner  of  some  is ;  but 
exhort  one  another  ;  and  so  much  the  more,  as  ye  see 
the  day  approaching ;'^  that  is,  the  day  of  their  judg- 
ment or  trial.  -'For  if  we  sin  wilfully,  after  that  we 
have  received  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  there  re- 
maineth  no  more  sacrifice  for  sins,  but  a  certain  fear- 
ful looking  for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indignation, 
which  shall  devour  the  adversaries." 

The  meaning  of  the  apostle  in  this  place  is, plain: 
If  any  of  the  Hebrews  who  had  received  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth,  should  wilfully,  or  from  sinister 
motives,  abandon  the  Christian  cause,  they  would 
feel  condemned ;  and  knowing  that  the  sacrifices  of 
the  Mosaic  law  were  done  away  in  Christ,  they  could 
no  more  relieve  their  consciences  by  offering  these 
legal  sacrifices  for  sin.  They  would  remember  the 
teachings  and  warnings  of  Christ  concerning  the  great 
distress  that  should  come  upon  their  land,  and  the 
wrath  that  should  devour  that  people ;  and  they 
would  be  troubled  with  a  fearful  looking  for  of  that 
threatened  judgment,  and  that  fiery  indignation  which 
should  devour  the  adversaries  of  the  gospel.  The 
punishment  administered  by  that  judgment,  was  in- 
deed a  sorer  punishment  upon  the  Jews  in  general, 
than  any  which  had  before  been  suffered.     For  Jesus 


132  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

said  concerning  that  event,  ''Then  shall  be  great 
tribulation,  such  as  was  not  since  the  beginning  of 
the  world  to  this  time,  no,  nor  ever  shall  be."  And 
surely  the  apostatized  Christians,  who,  in  that  un- 
heard-of tribulation,  had  "  their  portion  with  the  hypo- 
crites," •*  were  the  most  miserable  of  that  unhappy 
people. 

This  particular  instance  of  judgment,  because  it 
was  designed  in  its  results  to  fulfil  the  words  of 
Christ,  to  put  down  the  persecution  of  his  cause,  to 
establish  and  extend  his  kingdom  in  the  world,  and  to 
exalt  his  name  in  power  and  glory  among  men, — was 
called  in  a  special  manner  the  coming  of  Christ  in 
his  power  and  kingdom,  and  his  executing  judgment 
from  the  throne  of  the  Father's  glory ;  as  in  Matt.  xvi. 
27,  28  :  "  For  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  the  glory 
of  his  Father,  with  his  angels ;  and  then  he  shall 
reward  every  man  according  to  his  works.  Yerily  I 
say  unto  you,  there  be  some  standing  here,  which 
shall  not  taste  of  death,  till  they  see  the  Son  of  man 
coming  in  his  kingdom."  And  Matt.  xxiv.  30:  "And 
they  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven,  with  power  and  great  glory.  And  he  shall 
send  his  angels  with  a  great  sound  of  a  trumpet,  and 
they  shall  gather  together  his  elect  from  the  four 
winds.  *  *  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  this  generation 
shall  not  pass,  till  all  these  things  be  fulfilled."  And 
having  thus  fixed  the  general  time  of  this  coming  of 
his  in  judgment,  he  resumes  the  mention  of  the  same 
event,  in  the  last  paragraph  of  the  same  discourse,  to 
give  a  further  description  of  the  attending  circum- 
stances:  "When  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his 
glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  then  shall  he 

dMatt.  xxiv.  21,  51. 


JUDGMENT.  133 

sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory  ;  and  before  him  shall 
be  gathered  all  nations."  The  gathering  of  the  peo- 
ple, or  of  the  nations,  is  a  familiar  form  of  expression 
in  the  Old  Testament,  to  denote  the  widely  prevailing 
effects  of  such  Divine  judgments  as  were  the  subjects 
of  discourse.  And  as  this  judgment  was  designed 
to  introduce  believers  into  a  renewed  and  enlarged 
enjoyment  of  those  gospel  blessings  which  are  called 
"everlasting  life,"  and  to  pour  upon  the  unbelieving 
Jews  that  punishment  which  the  prophet  represented 
by  "a  fire  that  should  not  be  quenched,"'  and  "an 
everlasting  reproach,"^  so  Jesus  here  describes  it  as 
introducing  some  into  "everlasting  life,"  and  others 
into  "everlasting  punishment."  =  On  the  meaning  of 
the  word  everlasting  in  this  case,  we  need  not  here 
occupy  room  to  argue,  for  it  was  settled  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter.  I  will  here  add,  that  it  is  conceded  by 
all  that  this  word,  when  applied  to  events  of  time,  is 
used  in  a  limited  sense;  and  it  is  plain  that  in  this 
case  it  is  applied  to  a  punishment  which  has  been 
executed  on  the  earth.  It  is  no  other  punishment 
than  what  Moses  and  the  prophets  forewarned  the 
Jews  that  they  should  suffer,  if  they  should  bring  to  a 
certain  crisis  their  moral  corruptness.  And  surely 
they  did  not  forewarn  the  people  of  any  other  punish- 
ments than  what  were  comprehended  in  "all  the 
curses  of  the  law."'' 

The  exceeding  severity  of  this  particular  judgment, 
which  was  executed  at  the  coming  of  Christ  in  the 
end  of  the  Jewish  age,  is  expressed  by  him  in  his 
addresses  to  the  cities  of  Israel,  by  way  of  contrasting 
it  with  the  judgment  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  of 

e  Jer.  vii.  20  ;  xvii.  27.  ^  Jer.  xxiii.  40. 

g  Matt.  XXV.  41,  46.  »» Deut.  xxix.  27. 

12 


134  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

Other  cities :  "Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin !  Woe  unto  thee, 
Bethsaida !  for  if  the  mighty  works  which  were  done 
in  you,  had  been  done  in  Tyre  and  Sidon,  they  would 
have  repented  long  ago  in  dust  and  ashes.  But  I  say 
unto  you,  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  Tyre  and 
Sidon  at  the  day  of  judgment,  than  for  you.  And 
thou,  Capernaum,  which  art  exalted  unto  heaven, 
shall  be  brought  down  to  hades;  for  if  the  mighty 
works  which  have  been  done  in  thee,  had  been  done 
in  Sodom,  it  would  have  remained  until  this  day. 
But  I  say  unto  you.  That  it  shall  be  more  tolerable 
for  the  land  of  Sodom  in  the  day  of  judgment,  than 
for  thee."'  We  conclude  that  Jesus  did  not  mean 
here  to  teach  that  Sodom,  Tyre  and  Sidon,  were  to 
be  literally  judged  and  punished  at  some  future  time, 
because  every  transgression  and  disobedience  of  the 
words  spoken  by  God's  messengers  in  former  ages, 
had  "received  a  just  recompense  of  reward."  And 
besides,  that  the  temporal  judgment  of  Sodom  was 
referred  to,  is  evident,  in  that  it  prevented  that  city 
from  "continuing  unto  this  day."  Jesus  was  also 
speaking  of  the  temporal  destruction  of  these  cities  of 
Israel.  They  had  been  exalted  to  heaven,  but  should 
be  cast  down  to  hades.  As  their  being  exalted  to 
heaven,  was  their  temporal  exaltation  in  the  earth, 
so  their  reverse  of  fortune,  expressed  by  being  cast 
down  to  hades^  was  their  temporal  destruction.  And 
the  time  of  such  destruction  to  any  city  or  nation,  is 
called  the  day  of  judgment,  as  it  regards  them.  God  is 
said  to  execute  judgment  upon  them.^  It  seems  to 
have  been  the  meaning  of  Jesus  in  this  case,  that  the 
judgment  which  should  destroy  the  cities  of  Israel, 
would  be  so  much  more  distressing  than  that  which 

«  Matt.  xi.  21—24.  J  Gen.  xv.  14.     Ezek.  v.  8  ;  vii.  8  ;  xxv.  17. 


JUDGMENT.  135 

destroyed  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  that  in  the  day  of 
judgment  on  those  cities,  that  which  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah  had  suffered  would  appear  hght  in  compar- 
ison. 

The  circumstance  that  the  judgment  of  Sodom,  and 
that  of  the  Jewish  cities,  are  presented  here  in  one 
view,  by  one  future  tense,  has  been  used  as  proof  that 
a  judgment  was  here  spoken  of,  which  was  then 
future  even  in  regard  to  the  case  of  the  ancient  Sodom- 
ites. But  this  argument  is  seen  to  have  no  weight, 
Avhen  viewed  in  connexion  with  the  circumstances 
which  have  now  been  considered,  and  the  additional 
fact  that  the  prophets  had  employed  the  past  wicked- 
ness and  judgment  of  Sodom  in  contrast  with  the  then 
future  wickedness  and  judgment  of  Israel,  and  had 
brought  them  together  by  the  use  of  buf  one  tense : 
"  Thou  also  which  hast  judged  thy  sisters,  [Sodom  and 
Samaria,]  bear  thine  own  shame,  for  thy  sins  which 
thou  hast  committed  more  abominable  than  they  ; 
they  are  more  righteous  than  thou.'^"  And  again, 
"  The  punishment  of  the  iniquity  of  the  daughter  of 
my  people  is  greater  than  the  punishment  of  the  sin 
of  Sodom,  overthrown  as  in  a  moment  and  no  hands 
stayed  on  her."^  These  writers  saw  in  prophetic 
vision  the  then  future  iniquity  and  punishment  of 
Israel,  and  they  looked  also  upon  the  then  past  ini- 
quity and  punishment  of  Sodom,  and  presented  them 
together  in  contrast  by  the  use  of  one  tense,  as  living 
cases  brought  to  a  present  view.  Or,  if  they  spoke 
with  reference  to  the  then  'present  corruptness  and 
wretchedness  of  Israel  in  the  Babylonish  captivity,  it 
alters  not  the  fact  that  the  then  past  punishment  of 
Sodom  was  brought  forward,  and  placed  in  contrast 

•^Ezek.  xvi.  52.  'Lam.  iv.  6. 


136  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

with  the  punishment  of  Israel,  by  the  use  of  one  tense. 
And  this  is  precisely  what  our  Lord  did  in  the  place 
above  quoted.  He  took  the  judgment  of  Sodom, 
which,  though  past,  yet  lived  before  the  people  in 
the  faithful  records  which  were  read  every  Sabbath- 
day  amongst  them,  and  by  the  use  of  one  tense,  he 
presented  it  in  contrast  with  that  judgment  on  the 
cities  of  Israel  which  was  then  the  subject  of  dis- 
course.™ 

Another  important  passage  in  relation  to  the  judg- 
ment of  Christ  is  in  Hebrews  ix.  27.  "And  as  it  is 
appointed  unto  [the]  men  once  to  die,  but  after  this  the 
judgment ;  sc  Christ  was  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins 
of  many;  and  unto  them  that  look  for  him  shall  he 
appear  the  second  time,  without  sin,  [without  a  sin- 
offering,]  unto  salvation." 

It  appears  that  its  being  appointed  unto  men  once  to 
die  J  is  used  as  a  figure  of  Christ's  being  once  offered  to 
bear  the  sins  of  many.  Christ  was  once  offered  to 
bear  the  sins  of  the  many,  as  it  is  appointed  unto  men 
once  to  die.  What  death,  and  the  death  of  what  men, 
does  Paul  speak  of  in  this  chapter  as  a  figure  of  the 

m  Dr.  Hammond,  whose  prejudices  might  have  inclined  him  to  make  a 
different  application  of  these  words  of  our  Lord,  was  constrained  by  the 
evidence  in  the  case  to  explain  them  as  we  have  in  this  article.  On  the 
expression,  "  It  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  the  land  of  Sodom  in  the  day  of 
judgment  than  for  thee,"  he  gives  the  following  paraphrase :  "And  therefore 
you  in  all  reason  are  to  expect  a  sadder  destruction  and  vastation,  than  that 
which  befell  Sodom  and  Gomorrah."  Bp.  Pearce  explains  this  Scripture  in 
the  same  way  ;  and  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Clarke  preponderates  in  favor  of  the 
same  application :  "  Day  of  judgment,"  he  says,  "  may  either  refer  to  that 
particular  time  in  which  God  visits  for  iniquity,  or  to  that  great  day  in 
which  he  will  judge  the  world  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  day  of 
Sodom's  judgment  was  that  in  which  it  was  destroyed  by  fire  and  brimstone 
from  heaven.  Gen.  xix.  24  ;  and  the  day  of  judgment  to  Chorazin,  Beth- 
saida,  and  Capernaum,  was  the  day  in  which  they  were  destroyed  by  the 
Romans."    See  also  Universalisi  Expositor,  Vol.  3.  pp.  27,  28. 


JUDGMENT.  13f 

death  of  Christ?  And  what  judgment  did  these  men 
enter  into  after  this  death,  as  a  figure  of  Christ's  ap- 
pearing the  second  time  without  a  sin-offering  unto 
salvation;  or  of  his  entering  "into  heaven  itself,  now 
to  appear  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us  7  "  By  care- 
fully reading  this  chapter,  you  will  discover  that  the 
apostle  is  making  mention  of  the  yearly  sacrifices 
made  by  those  men  who  ministered  in  the  priestly 
ofiice,  as  figurative  of  Christ's  being  once  offered  for 
the  sins  of  the  many.  The  high  priest  under  the  law 
had  to  die — by  proxy,  or  to  signify  his  death  by  offer- 
ing a  sacrifice,  once  each  time  of  entering  into  the 
inner  court,  or  place  of  judgment ;  which  was  once  a 
year.  After  signifying  liis  death  for  the  nation,  by 
offering  sacrifices  for  himself  and  all  the  people,  the 
law  directed  that  the  priest  should  go  into  the  inner 
court  with  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice.  And  there  he 
must  "  bear  the  names  of  the  children  of  Israel  in  the 
breast-plate  of  judgment;"  and  "bear  the  judgment 
of  the  children  of  Israel  upon  his  heart."  But  this 
going  into  "  the  judgment,"  bearing  the  judgment  of 
the  people  in  the  breast-plate  upon  his  heart,  could 
not  be  until  after  he  had  slain  his  sacrifice,  or  died  by 
proxy,  in  the  outer  court.  (See  Lev.  xvi.  and  Ex. 
xxviii.)  Then  i\iQ  judgment  of  the  holy  place  was  the 
redemption  of  the  people. 

But  "Christ  is  not  entered  into  the  holy  places  made 
with  hands,  which  are  the  figures  of  the  true,"  says 
our  apostlcv  "  but  into  heaven  itself,  now  to  appear  in 
the  presence  of  God  for  us :  nor  yet  that  he  should 
offer  himself  often,  as  the  high  priest  entereth  into  the 
holy  place  every  year  with  blood  of  others ;  for  then 
must  he  often  have  suffered  since  the  foundation  of 
the  world :  but  now  once,  in  the  end  of  the  world, 
12* 


138  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

(age,)  hath  he  appeared,  to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacri- 
fice of  himself.  "And  as  it  is  appointed," — observe 
the  connexion, — ^^A?id  as  it  is  appointed  unto  men," 
the  men,  it  reads  in  the  original ;  i.  e.  the  men  who 
ministered  in  the  priestly  office,  '^  once  to  die,"  or 
signify  their  death  by  their  sacrifice,  "  and  after  this 
the  judgment,"  i.  e.  after  this  they  could  go  into  the 
place  of  judgment,  or  holy  place,  and  obtain  the  as- 
surance of  the  temporal  salvation  of  the  people;  "so 
Christ  was  once  ofiered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many ;  and 
unto  them  that  look  for  him  shall  he  appear  the 
second  time,"  or  in  his  risen  state  of  glory,  in  his  judg- 
ment, "  without  a  sin-ofiering  unto  salvation." 

No  subject  could  be  rendered  more  plain  than  the 
connexion  renders  this.  It  does  not  appear  that  Paul 
had  any  reference  here  to  the  natural  death  of  all 
men,  and  a  judgment  for  trial  and  retribution  after 
that.  And  even  if  he  had,  it  would  fall  infinitely 
short  of  proving  that  the  retribution  is  what  our  oppos- 
ers  assert.  But  he  who  candidly  reads  the  whole  of 
this  chapter,  will  clearly  see  that  the  apostle  speaks 
of  the  sacrifices  of  the  priests  under  the  law,  and  their 
afterwards  entering  into  the  judgment  or  holy  place, 
as  figurative  of  Christ's  being  once  ofiered,  and  after- 
wards entering  into  his  kingdom  and  glory,  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God. 

From  the  facts  above  noticed,  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  word  judgment  in  this  case  does  not  directly  refer 
to  Christ,  but  to  the  holy  place  into  which  the  high 
priest  entered  once  a  year,  after  dying  in  the  sacrifice 
in  the  outer  court.  And  the  judgment  of  Christ,  of 
which  this  is  introduced  as  a  figure,  is  to  be  under- 
stood in  the  more  comprehensive  sense  of  his  kingdom^ 
as  in  the  prophetic  Scriptures  before  referred  to. 


JUDGMENT.  139 

St.  Paul,  in  2  Cor.  v.  10,  testifies  of  our  amena- 
bility to  the  judgment  of  Christ,  in  the  following  im- 
pressive language : — "  For  we  must  all  appear  before 
the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  that  every  one  may  re- 
ceive the  things  in  body,  according  to  that  he  hath 
done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad."  * 

We  omit  in  this  quotation  the  word  done^  which  was 
supplied  by  the  translators,  because  it  encumbers  the 
sense.  Reading  as  it  correctly  does  from  the  original, 
it  distinctly  testifies  of  a  present  judgment  and  retri- 
bution. The  subject  of  the  apostle  in  this  connexion  is 
that  of  our  accountability  to  the  authority  of  Christ,  now 
and  ever.  In  the  preceding  verse  he  says,  "Where- 
fore we  labor,  that,  whether  present  or  absent,  (or, 
as  the  general  subject  explains  his  meaning,  whether 
in  this  life  or  another,)  we  may  be  accepted  of  him." 
The  idea  is,  that  it  is  not  alone  for  acceptance  in  an- 
other life  that  we  are  laboring;  happiness  is  as  valua- 
ble now  as  ever.  We  are  God's  moral,  accountable 
children,  and  it  is  only  by  living  the  life  and  receiving 
the  approbation  of  our  blessed  Master,  that  we  can  be " 
said  truly  to  live.  Yes,  even  now  we  are  amenable  to 
Christ  the  Lord.  We  must  all  appear  {(favsoo)dr^vai^  be 
manifest)  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  that  every 
one  may  receive  the  things  (here)  in  the  body,  accord- 
ing to  that  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad." 
If  this  were  forced  to  such  an  application  as  to  make 
it  testify  of  distinct  and  final  retributions,  and  endless, 
too,  in  the  future  world,  for  the  deeds  of  men  on  earth, 
it  would  require  that  those  who  have  done  som^e  good 
and  some  evil  on  earth,  as  most  men  have,  shall  be 
both  rewarded  and  punished,  blessed  and  cursed,  made 
happy  and  miserable,  to  all  eternity !     For  the  testi- 

*  To  the  same  purport  is  Rom.  xiv.  10. 


140  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

mony  is,  that  every  one  shall  receive  according  to  that 
he  hath  done,  whether  it  he  good  or  bad.  But  in  the 
light  in  which  this  passage,  with  its  context,  now 
stands,  the  sentiment  is  beautifully  consistent.  It  is 
the  same  as  that  which  has  been  quoted  from  the  pro- 
phet, (Ezek.  xviii.,)  teaching  that  the  sinner  shall  die, 
or  suffer  the  condemnation  of  the  law,  in  his  sins  ;  but 
that  if  he  will  turn  from  his  iniquities  and  do  that 
which  is  lawful  and  right,  iii  his  rlghteo7isness  that  he 
doeth  he  shall  live.  Thus  is  every  man  made  to  re- 
ceive according  to  his  deeds,  good  or  bad. 

There  is  another  important  idea  in  this  Scripture 
doctrine  concerning  the  judgment  of  Christ.  It  places 
his  judgment-seat  in  his  kingdom.  It  makes  Christ 
the  Judge  while  he  is  the  Ruler,  and  his  judgment  a 
cooperative  branch  of  his  kingdom.  So  it  should  be 
Who  ever  heard  of  a  government  without  a  judgment, 
— putting  the  judgment  off  till  the  government  shall 
have  ended  ?  What  good  father  has  a  family  govern- 
ment without  a  judgment,  deferring  all  judgment  and 
discipline  till  he  shall  have  lost  his  government?  None. 
The  parental  judgment  is  a  cooperative  branch  of  the 
family  government.  Yet  many  have  believed  that  the 
judgment  of  Christ  is  to  be  postponed  until  his  king- 
dom is  given  up.  Such  views  are  the  blackness  of 
darkness.  They  find  no  favor  from  the  Word  of 
God.  From  this  source  we  have  learned,  that  when 
God  commenced  the  exercise  of  his  moral  government 
over  his  children,  he  commenced  the  administration 
of  his  judgment.  In  every  age  he  "searcheth  the 
heart,  and  trieth  the  reins,  even  to  give  every  man  ac- 
cording to  his  ways."  (Jer.  xvii.  10.)  In  these  latter 
days  he  exerciseth  judgment  by  Jesus  Christ.  The 
judgment  of  Christ  is,  as  we  have  seen,  in  its  most 


JUDGMENT.  141 

comprehensive  sense,  synonymous  with  his  kingdom. 
In  the  more  restricted  sense,  applying  to  discernment 
of  character  and  execution  of  penalties,  it  is  an  ever 
active  branch  of  his  government,  concurring  to  the  great 
consummation,  when  he  shall  resign  his  kingdom  to 
the  Father,  having  subdued  all  things  unto  himself. 

It  is  needless  to  multiply  quotations  from  the  Scrip- 
tures in  relation  to  our  general  subject.  We  have 
already  carried  our  examination  of  the  Scriptures  to  a 
sufficient  extent,  to  ascertain  with  satisfactory  clear- 
ness, that  this  world  of  moral  creatures  is  not  left  with- 
out a  Divine  judgment,  and  without  a  Supreme  Judge ; 
but  that  the  Lord  "  is  a  God  that  judgeth  in  the  earth," 
and  that  he  "  rendereth  unto  every  man  according  to 
his  works ;"  that  he  is  the  Judge  while  he  is  the  Gov- 
ernor of  the  world ;  that  he  commenced  an  operative 
system  of  judgment  when  he  commenced  the  exercise 
of  his  government  over  his  moral  creatures ;  in  short, 
that  a  retributive  judgment,  rendering  to  accountable 
creatures  according  to  their  deserts,  is  a  perpetual  and 
cooperative  branch  of  the  Divine  government. 

Most  of  the  passages  which  we  have  quoted  on  the 
subject  of  retributive  judgment,  relate  to  external  and 
visible  judgments  on  particular  people,  executed  at 
sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners.  But  these  bear 
fully  on  the  question  of  the  perfect  subjection  of  the 
inhabitants  of  earth  to  the  righteous  judgment  of  God; 
for  these  executions  of  visible  punishment  are  repre- 
sented as  filling  up  the  measure  of  retribution,  accord- 
ing to  that  of  demerit  in  the  people.  There  is  also  a 
constant  operation  of  Divine  judgment,  meting  out 
rewards  and  punishments  to  mankind,  by  the  admin- 
istration of  internal  happiness  or  misery  according  to 
their  characters.     The  Scriptures  do  not  abound  in  his- 


142  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

tories  of  particular  executions  of  this  species  of  retribu- 
tion, as  of  the  external  judgments,  because  it  is  com- 
mon and  invisible.  But  it  is  comprehended  in  the 
general  terms  by  which  the  subject  of  retributive  judg- 
ment is  often  expressed ;  as  in  the  following  examples : 
"  Thou  renderest  to  every  man  according  to  his 
work."  "In  keeping  them  [the  judgments  of  God] 
there  is  great  reward."  ''Great  peace  have  they 
which  love  thy  law,  and  nothing  shall  offend  them." 
"But  the  wicked  are  like  the  troubled  sea,  when  it 
cannot  rest,  whose  waters  cast  up  mire  and  dirt. 
There  is  no  peace,  saith  my  God,  to  the  wicked. '^' 
"Destruction  and  misery  are  in  their  ways,  and  the 
way  of  peace  have  they  not  known."  "I  the  Lord 
search  the  heart,  I  try  the  reins,  even  to  give  every  man 
according  to  his  ways,  and  according  to  the  fruit  of 
his  doings.""  The  Scriptures  abound  with  testimo- 
nies, of  which  these  are  a  specimen,  disallowing  the 
sentiment  that  the  only  recompense,  or  reward  and 
punishment,  executed  by  the  judgment  of  God  on 
earth,  is  in  those  cases  of  external  and  visible  judg- 
ment, many  of  which  are  made  the  subjects  of  pro- 
phetic and  historical  record.  "  The  anger  of  the 
Lord," — that  is,  the  condemnatory  operation  of  the 
Divine  judgment, — is  against  the  wicked  "every  day."  ° 
But  when  the  sins  of  individuals  or  of  communities 
assume  a  certain  character,  and  attain  to  a  certain 
degree.  He  who  searches  the  heart,  perceives  that 
their  case  requires  the  addition  of  some  external  and 
visible  punishment,  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  their 
deserts,  and  to  operate  as  a  necessary  check  on  their 
career,  and  a  warning  to  others. 

n  Ps.  Ixii.  12  ;  xix.  11.     Isa.  Ivii.  20,  21.     Rom.  iii.  16,  17.    Jer.  xvii.  10. 
=>  Ps.  vii.  11. 


JUDGMENT.  143 

We  are  aware  that  there  are  some  who  contend, 
that  however  full  and  clear  may  be  the  evidence  of 
Scripture  for  this  doctrine  of  an  ever  operative  and 
just  judgment,  it  does  not  agree  with  fact.  And  they 
adduce  certain  cases  of  persons,  of  different  characters, 
on  earth,  in  which  they  say  the  doctrine  of  a  just  ret- 
ribution does  not  hold  true.  But  such  will  do  well  to 
consider,  in  humbleness  of  mind  before  God,  that  they 
can  only  look  at  the  outward  appearance ;  that  they 
cannot  correctly  judge  either  of  other  men's  moral 
deserts,  or  of  the  amount  of  their  happiness  or  misery. 
But  God  looketh  at  the  heart.  He  "  searcheth  the 
heart,  and  trieth  the  reins,  even  to  give  every  man 
according  to  his  ways,  and  according  to  the  fruit 
of  his  doings."  If  any  assert  that  in  some  given 
case  it  is  not  true  that  God  judges  the  heart  to 
render  a  just  recompense,  the  burden  of  proof  is  upon 
his  hand.  But  the  impossibility  of  producing  the 
evidence  of  such  a  fact  in  any  case,  may  discover 
to  him  the  folly  and  presumption  of  opposing  his  own 
judgment  to  the  judgment  of  God.  Many  an  honest 
confession  from  persons  who  have  run  a  sinful  career, 
has  exposed  the  error  of  such  as  had  judged  them 
from  outward  appearance.  Tiberius  was  doubtless 
envied  by  thousands,  for  his  rank,  and  his  supposed 
enjoyment.  He  had  every  means  which  earth  could 
aftbrd  to  gratify  his  sensual  appetites;  and  by  the 
course  he  pursued  he  evinced  a  determination  that,  if 
happiness  were  to  be  found  in  sin,  it  should  be  his  to 
enjoy.  But  the  desired  happiness  was  not  there.  We 
are  shown  by  the  following  letter  from  him  to  the 
Roman  Senate,  that  he  received  in  himself,  from  the 
judgment  of  God,  "that  recompense  for  his  errors 
which  was  meet:"p     "What  to  write,  conscript  fa- 

p  Rom.  i.  27. 


144  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

therSj  in  what  terms  to  express  myself,  or  what  to  re- 
frain from  writing,  is  a  matter  of  such  perplexity,  that 
if  I  know  how  to  decide,  may  the  just  gods  and  the 
goddesses  of  vengeance  doom  me  to  die  in  pangs,  worse 
than  those  under  which  I  linger  every  day !  '^  '^  On 
this,  Tacitus,  the  heathen  historian,  makes  the  fol- 
lowing pertinent  remarks:  "We  have  here  the  fea- 
tures of  the  inward  man.  His  crimes  retaliated  upon 
him  with  the  keenest  retribution ;  so  true  is  the  saying 
of  the  great  philosopher,'  the  oracle  of  ancient  wisdom, 
that  if  the  minds  of  tyrants  were  laid  open  to  our 
view,  we  should  see  them  gashed  and  mangled  with 
the  whips  and  stings  of  horror  and  remorse.  By  blows 
and  stripes  the  flesh  is  made  to  quiver;  and  in  like 
manner,  cruelty  and  inordinate  passions,  malice  and 
evil  deeds,  become  internal  executioners,  and  with  un- 
ceasing torture  goad  and  lacerate  the  heart.  Of  this 
truth  Tiberius  is  a  melancholy  instance.  Neither  the 
imperial  dignity,  nor  the  gloom  of  solitude,  nor  the 
rocks  of  Caprese,  could  shield  him  from  himself.  He 
lived  on  the  rack  of  guilt,  and  his  wounded  spirit 
groaned  in  agony."  Hence,  it  is  perceived  that  the 
reason  and  observation  of  philosophers  discover,  in 
real  life,  the  fact,  which  attests  the  doctrine  that  we 
have  seen  so  fully  asserted  in  the  Scriptures,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  judgment  of  God. 

It  is  presumed  that  none  will  dispute  there  having 
been,  under  the  administration  of  the  law  in  former 
ages,  as  many  of  the  description  of  cases  from  which 
some  argue  the  failure  of  a  righteous  retribution,  as 
there  are  under  the  present  dispensation.  Yet  St. 
Paul  testifies  that  "every  transgression  and  disobedi- 
ence received  a  just  recompense  of  reward."     And  in 

q  Annals  of  Tacitus,  B.  vi.,  §  6.  i  Socrates. 


JUDGMENT.  145 

the  same  sentence  he  assures  us,  m  the  form  of  an 
interrogatory  assertion,  that  others  must  inevitably  re- 
ceive according  to  their  deserts,  from  the  same  just  ad- 
ministration of  the  Divine  judgment."  There  is  no  way 
to  be  free  fwm  the  misery  of  sin,  but  to  be  free  from  sin. 
And  we  gratefully  rejoice  that  God  will  execute  judg- 
ment through  Jesus,  even  unto  the  destruction  of  the 
works  of  the  devil,'  which  are  sin  and  its  concomitant 
evils. 

Reader,  our  subject  is  important.  You  are  in  pur- 
suit of  happiness ;  and  if  you  ever  choose  a  course  of 
moral  wrong,  it  is  because  you  do  not  practically  be- 
lieve in  the  doctrine  of  Divine  judgment  which  we 
have  here  presented  from  the  Scriptures.  Let  these 
words  of  apostolic  wisdom  be  engraved  on  the  tablet 
of  your  heart:  ''For  he  that  will  love  life,  and  see 
good  days,  let  him  refrain  his  tongue  from  evil,  and 
his  lips  that  they  speak  no  guile ;  let  him  eschew  evil, 
and  do  good;  let  him  seek  peace  and  ensue  it.'"" 

8  For  the  writer's  view  of  the  consistency  of  this  doctrine  with  that  of  for- 
giveness as  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  see  the  next  chapter  of  this  work, 
entitled  Punishment  and  Forgiveness. 

t  John  iii.  8.     1  Cor.  xv.  24—28.  "  1  Peter  iii.  lOj  11. 

13 


CHAPTER     VII. 

PUNISHMENT    AND   FORGIVENESS. 

Such  is  the  title  which  we  appropriate  to  this  chap- 
ter; because,  while  its  main  subject  is  that  of  For- 
giveness, I  design  to  present  it  in  such  connection  with 
that  of  Punishment,  as  to  evince  their  harmony  with 
each  other.  To  do  this  in  a  manner  the  most  familiar 
and  intelligible  to  the  reader,  I  must  occasionally 
recapitulate  certain  principles  which  I  have  argued  at 
length  in  some  of  the  foregoing  chapters. 

I.  The  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  teach  that 
God  renders  to  every  man  according  to  his  work  ;^  and 
they  also  proclaim  the  Lord  God  merciful  and  gra- 
cious, forgiving  iniquity^  trans gressiori  and  sin.^  Nor 
is  either  of  these  doctrines  of  the  Old  Testament  abro- 
gated under  the  Gospel  dispensation.  The  Scriptures 
of  the  New  Testament  expressly  state,  that  God  tviil 
reiider  to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds,  in  the  day 
(or  dispensation)  when  God  shall  judge  the  secrets  of 
men  by  Jesus  Christ  f  and  also  that  he  hath  exalted 
Jesus  Christ  to  be  a  Prince  and  Saviour,  to  give  re- 
2Je?itance  and  forgiveness  of  sins.^  These  two  impor- 
tant doctrines  of  the  Bible  have  been  so  defined  by  a 
respectable  class  of  Christians,  as  to  appear  incon- 
sistent with  each  other.  They  hold  that  the  sentence 
of  the  law  against  transgressors,  in  recompense  to  them 
according  to  their  deserts,  is  their  consignment  to  end- 

a  Deut.  XXX.  15.    Ps.  Ixii.  12.    Prov.  xi.  31.    Ezek.  xviii. 
b  Ex.  xxxiv.  7.    Ps.  XXV.  11,  18.    Jer.  xxxi.  34. 
<i  Rom.  ii.  6—16.  d  Acts  v.  31 ;  xi.  18. 


PUNISHMENT   AND   FORGIVENESS.  147 

less  punishment.  And  as  ''all  have  smned,"  the  just 
desert  of  all  is  the  aforesaid  endless  punishment.  Yet 
the  class  of  Christians  of  whom  I  speak,  notwith- 
standing they  believe  that  the  just  desert  of  all  men  is 
eternal  misery,  and  though  they  urge  it  as  the  plain 
doctrine  of  God's  word  that  every  man  shall  be  dealt 
with  according  to  his  desert,  do  not  mean  to  be  under- 
stood as  believing  that  all  men  shall  be  made  to  suffer 
that  deserved  recompense  of  misery.  For  the  doctrine 
of  forgiveness^  they  say,  is  likewise  a  doctrine  of  the 
Scriptures ;  and  they  hope  that  God,  through  the  ex- 
ercise of  forgiveness,  will  make  millions  of  sinners  to 
be  participants  of  eternal  happiness  in  heaven.  Thus 
the  sinner's  hope  of  final  happiness  is  made  to  be  the 
hope  of  an  escape  from  his  deserved  punishment. 

Indeed,  forgiveness  has  commonly  been  understood 
to  be  the  clearing  of  a 'person  from  some  incurred  jjen- 
alty.  How  then  shall  the  person  who  is  tempted 
to  sin,  know  what  to  expect  from  the  threatening  of 
God's  law?  If  Divine  forgiveness  be  a  deliverance 
from  deserved  punishment,  then,  though  God  has  pos- 
itively declared  that  he  will  render  to  every  man  ac- 
cording to  his  deserts,  yet  he  may  render  to  no  man 
according  to  his  deserts, — nor  can  he  punish  any  to 
whom  he  extends  forgiveness.  In  this  way  the  doc- 
trines of  punishment  and  forgiveness  are  set  in  oppo- 
sition to  each  other ;  and  many,  while  they  profess  to 
be  strenuous  advocates  both  for  the  doctrine  of  Divine 
forgiveness,  and  of  God's  rendering  to  every  man  ac- 
cording to  his  works,  do,  in  the  very  labors  in  which 
they  undertake  to  urge  these  doctrines,  alternately 
deny  them  both.  In  urging  the  doctrine  of  the  'pun- 
ishment of  sinners,  they  preclude  the  possibility  of 
their  ever  being  forgiven,  and  in  urging  the  doctrine 


148  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

of  the  forgiveness  of  sinners^  they  preclude  the  possi- 
bility of  every  man's  being  recompensed  according  to 
his  deserts. 

But  I  hope  to  be  able  to  show  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  candid  reader,  that  there  is  no  inconsistency  be- 
tween the  doctrines  of  punishment  and  forgiveness,  as 
taught  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  The  better  to  ac- 
complish our  purpose,  we  will  view  the  two  subjects 
both  separately  and  in  connection  with  each  other. 

In  the  first  place  we  will  take  a  brief  review  of  the 
teachings  of  the  Scriptures  concerning  the  pwiish- 
ment  of  sinners.  In  the  18th  chapter  of  Ezekiel  there 
is  recorded  a  kind  oi  judicial  decision,  from  the  court 
of  Heaven,  upon  the  meaning  of  the  Divine  law,  about 
which  the  people  had  fallen  into  mistakes.  "  The 
word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me  again,  saying.  What 
mean  ye,  that  ye  use  this  proverb  concerning  the  land 
of  Israel,  saying.  The  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes, 
and  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge?  As  I  live, 
saith  the  Lord  God,  ye  shall  not  have  any  more  to  use 
this  proverb  in  Israel.  Behold,  all  souls  are  mine ;  as 
the  soul  of  the  father,  so  also  the  soul  of  the  son  is 
mine :  the  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die.  The  son  shall 
not  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  father,  neither  shall  the 
father  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  son :  the  righteousness 
of  the  righteous  shall  be  upon  him,  and  the  wickedness 
of  the  wicked  shall  be  upon  him."  Hereby  we  are 
informed  that  the  law  of  God  makes  the  wages  of  sin 
to  be  death.  Not  eternal  death,  however,  or  endless 
punishment,  as  they  affirm  whose  sentiment  has  been 
before  stated.  The  death  pronounced  on  sinners  by 
the  Divine  law  is  only  to  be  coextensive  in  duration 
with  sin.  To  this  point  the  word  of  God  proceeds  to 
say, — ''  But  if  the  wicked  will  turn  from  all  his  sins 


PUNISHMENT   AND   FORGIVENESS.  149 

that  he  hath  committed,  and  keep  all  my  statutes,  and 
do  that  which  is  lawful  and  right,  he  shall  surely  live, 
he  shall  not  die.  All  his  transgressions  that  he  hath 
committed,  they  shall  not  be  mentioned  unto  him ;  in 
his  righteousness  that  he  hath  done  he  shall  live." 
Hence  we  learn  that  it  is  the  principle  of  Divine  law, 
the  justice  of  the  government  of  Heaven,  that  when  a 
sinner  has  turned  from  the  way  of  sin,  and  walks  in  the 
possession  and  practice  of  the  principles  of  godliness, 
he  is  no  longer  a  subject  of  that  condemnation  or  death 
which  is  the  just  portion  of  sinners.  Justice  condemns 
him  only  while  he  is  a  sinner.  And  since  the  Divine 
law  does  neither  ordain  nor  predict  that  men  shall 
always  continue  in  the  character  of  sinners,  it  does  not 
determine  that  any  shall  be  subjects  of  eternal  death. 

This  view  of  the  death  or  punishment  of  sin,  that 
its  duration  is  measured  by  men's  continuing  in  the 
character  of  sinners,  accords  with  the  experience  of 
all  who  have  been  reformed.  St.  John  says,  "We 
know  that  we  have  passed  from  death  unto  life,  be- 
cause we  love  the  brethren.  He  that  loveth  not  his 
brother  abideth  in  death."*  He  and  his  Christian 
brethren,  when  they  were  in  the  spirit  of  opposition  to 
the  law  of  God,  were  in  that  death  which  is  the  wages 
of  sin.  On  them  was  executed  what  God's  law  de- 
clares, '■  The  soul  thatsinneth,  it  shall  die."  "For  to 
be  carnally-minded  is  death."  ^  But  when  they  turned 
from  the  way  of  sin,  and  walked  in  that  love  which  is 
the  fulfilling  of  the  law,  they  passed  from  death  imto 
life,  and  felt  that,  as  far  as  they  were  holy,  no  just 
law  in  the  universe  could  condemn  them. 

What  is  contained  in  the  word  of  God  by  Ezekiel, 
"  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die,"  is  expressed  in 

e  1  John  iii,  14.  ^  Rom.  viii.  6. 

13^ 


150  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

Other  words  by  the  apostle  Paul,  in  Rom.  ii.  6 — 10, 
"Who  will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his 
deeds ;  to  them  who,  by  patient  continuance  in  well- 
doing, seek  for  glory,  and  honor,  and  immortality ;  ° 
eternal  life;''  but  unto  them  that  are  contentious,  and 
do  not  obey  the  truth,  but  obey  unrighteousness,  in- 
dignation and  wrath.  Tribulation  and  anguish  upon 
every  soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil,  of  the  Jew  first, 
and  also  of  the  Gentile.  But  glory,  honor,  and  peace, 
to  every  man  that  worketh  good ;  to  the  Jew  first, 
and  also  to  the  Gentile;  for  there  is  no  respect  of 
persons  with  God."  It  is  plain  from  this  Scripture 
that  the  just  punishment  of  sin  is  the  tribulation  and 
anguish  which  the  disobedient  suffer  in  their  sins. 
This  sentiment  is  also  clearly  expressed  by  the  same 
apostle  in  Rom.  iii.  16,  17.  "Destruction  and  misery 
are  in  their  ways  ;  and  the  way  of  peace  have  they 
not  known."  The  way  of  sin  is  a  way  of  misery, 
and  no  true  peace  is  found  therein.     Consequently. 

s  A(f9aqoiav,  Incorruptness,  or  purity  of  doctrines  and  desi^s. 

^  Aionion  life.  Some  have  contended  that  the  punishment  of  evil-doers, 
spoken  of  in  this  passage,  is  eternal  punishment  in  the  future  ?oorW,  because 
the  reward  of  the  well-doers  is  eternal  life.  I  know  that  the  Christian  hopes 
for  an  eternity  of  life  and  happiness  beyond  the  grave  ;  not  however,  as  the 
fruit  or  reward  of  his  present  doings,  but  as  the  free  gift  of  God's  grace. 
The  aionion  life,  which  is  the  Christian's  reward,  is  the  life  and  happiness 
which  he  receives  and  enjoys  in  believing  and  obeying  the  gospel.  In  pos- 
sessing himself  of  the  glory,  and  honor,  and  incorruptness  of  principle  which 
he  seeks,  he  possesses  himself  of  aionion  life.  As  in  John  v.  24,  "Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  He  that  receiveth  my  word,  and  believeth  on  him 
that  sent  me,  hath  everlasting  (aionion)  life,  and  shall  not  come  into  con- 
demnation, but  is  passed  from  death  unto  life."  Here  what  is  called  ever- 
lasting  life,  is  also  expressed  by  the  single  term,  life;  as  in  1  John  iii.  14, 
quoted  above  ;  and  Rom.  viii.  6,  "  To  be  spiritually  minded  is  life  and  peace  ;" 
and  in  many  other  places.  And  in  this  passage,  the  reward  which,  in  verse 
7,  is  called  eternal  life,  is,  in  verse  10,  called  _§-/o?-i/,  honor,  nnd peace.  The 
doctrine  of  an  eternity  of  happiness,  as  the  reward  of  our  good  deeds  here,  is 
as  unscriptural  as  is  the  doctrine  of  an  eternity  of  punishment  for  our  evil 
deeds. 


PUNISHMENT   AND    FORGIVENESS.  151 

men  must  be  punished  with  misery  just  as  long  as 
they  walk  the  sinner's  way. 

II.  Having  taken  this  brief  view  of  the  Scripture 
doctrine  concerning  the  jninishment  of  sinners^  we  will, 
\n  the  second  place,  consider  the  subject  oi  gosjyel  for- 
giveness. The  original  word  translated  forgive  in  the 
New  Testament  is  aphiemi^  from  apo^  from^  and  iemi^ 
to  send.  To  send  away^  dismiss,  deliver  from.  It 
occurs  in  Matt.  xiii.  36,  and  is  rendered,  sent  away. 
"  Then  Jesus  sent  the  multitudes  away.''''  In  Mark 
XV.  37,  the  same  Greek  word  signifies  to  emit^  or  give 
lip.  "And  Jesus  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  and  gave 
up  the  ghost."  It  is  also  used  in  1  Cor.  vii.  12,  for 
putting  away  or  dismissing  a  wife.  "If  any  brother 
hath  a  wife  that  believeth  not,  and  she  be  pleased  to 
dwell  with  him,  let  him  not  jnit  her  axoay?^  It  also 
occurs  in  Matt.  iv.  20,  22,  and  is  rendered  by  the 
word  left.  "And  they  straightway  left  their  nets  and 
followed  him."  This  word  in  its  substantive  form 
occurs  in  Luke  iv.  IS,  in  the  sense  of  ^^  dismdssion, 
deliverance,  or  liberty,  as  of  captives."'  "He  hath 
sent  me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliver- 
ance  to  the  captives,  and  recovering  of  sight  to  the 
blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised."  Here 
the  words  deliverance  and  liberty  are  from  the  same 
Greek  word  that  is  rendered  forgiveness,  whenever 
this  latter  term  is  used  in  the  New  Testament. 

We  have  been  thus  particular  to  give  the  significa- 
tion of  the  word  from  which  forgiveness  comes  in  the 
New  Testament,  and  to  present  several  instances  of 
its  Scriptural  use,  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  to 
the  reader  the  importance  of  proper  care  in  forming 
his  judgment  on  this  subject.     We   have   remarked 

'  Parkhursi  on  {^(ptoii)  Aphesis. 


152  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

before,  that  forgiveness  has  been  commonly  under- 
stood to  mean  the  clearing  of  a  person  from  deserved 
punishment.  But  we  find  that  the  word  does  not,  of 
itself,  signify  a  deliverance  from  deserved  imnishment ; 
but  simply  to  send  aioay^  dismiss,  or  deliver  from. 
To  dismiss,  or  deliver  from,  what,  must  be  decided  in 
every  case  by  a  reference  to  the  subject  unto  which  it 
is  applied.  Accordingly,  we  find  the  original  word, 
which  is  rendered  forgive,  in  one  case  which  we  have 
noticed,  used  for  disunissing  or  sending  away  the  m^id- 
titudes.  In  another  instance  it  is  used  for  dismissing 
or  sending  away  a  wife.  In  another,  for  sending  out 
or  givijig  up  one's  life.  And  in  another  case  which 
we  have  noticed,  we  find  the  word  used  for  deliveri?ig 
from  prison,  frorn  captivity,  and  from  'inaimedness. 
And  pursuing  this  necessary  rule  of  construction,  if 
we  find  the  phrase,  forgiveness  of  deserved  punish- 
ment, we  are  to  receive  it  as  meaning  a  deliverance 
from  deserved  punishment. 

But  such  an  expression  as  forgiveness  of  punish- 
ment,  does  not  occur  in  the  inspired  writings.  The 
gospel  forgiveness  is  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  "God 
hath  exalted  Jesus  with  his  right  hand,  to  be  a  Prince, 
and  a  Saviour,  for  to  give  repentance  to  Israel,  and 
forgiveness  of  sins.''' ^  1^\\q  forgiveness  in  this  case 
is  the  deliverance  spoken  of  in  the  passage  before 
quoted  from  Luke.  The  same  original  word  occurs 
in  precisely  the  same  form  in  both  cases.  In  the  one 
case  Jesus  reads  and  appUes  to  himself  the  words  of 
the  prophet,  "He  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken- 
hearted, to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives ;"  and  in 
the  other  case^  Peter  says  of  Jesus,  '•  Him  hath  God 
exalted  witli  his  right  hand,  for  to  give  repentance  to 

j  Acts  V.  31. 


PUNISHMENT    AND    FORGIVENESS.  153 

Israel,  and  deliverance  from  si?is.^^  Now,  by  giving 
deliverance  from  si?is,  Jesus  fulfils  that  saying  which 
he  applied  to  himself,  ''He  hath  sent  me  to  preach 
(or  proclaim)  delivei^aiice  to  the  captives."  What 
kind  of  forgiveness,  liberty,  or  deliverance  is  this  7  Is 
it,  as  some  have  imagined,  a  deliverance  from  going 
to  an  endless  prison  of  darkness  in  the  future  world, 
as  a  punishment  for  sins  committed  in  this  'I  There  is 
nothing  in  the  Scriptures  to  support  such  an  opinion. 
It  is  a  deliverance  from  the  dark  prison  of  unbelief, 
and  from  the  miserable  bondage  of  sin:  so  that  the 
subject  of  this  deliverance  can  say,  "  This  I  know, 
that  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see."  "  He  hath 
delivered  us  from  the  power  of  darkness,  and  hath 
translated  us  into  the  kingdom  of  his  dear  Son."*" 
"  For  we  have  not  received  the  spirit  of  bondage 
again  to  fear,  but  we  have  received  the  spirit  of  adop- 
tion, whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  father."^ 

To  render  the  light  of  our  subject  the  more  clear 
to  the  careful  reader,  we  will  take  him  to  the  Scrip- 
tures for  instruction  on  the  purpose  and  design  of  that 
gospel,  through  which  we  receive  forgiveness  o"^ 
sins.  See  Matt,  xviii.  II;  "For  the  Son  of  man  is 
come  to  save  that  which  was  lost."  Matt.  i.  21;  "  He 
shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins.^^  John  i.  29 ; 
"  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  xoorld.^''  Acts  iii.  26;  "Unto  you  first,  God 
having  raised  up  his  Son  Jesus,  sent  him  to  bless  you, 
in  turning  away  every  one  of  you  from  his  iniquities ^ 
Eph.  V.  25 — 27;  "Christ  also  loved  the  church,  and 
gave  himself  for  it,  that  he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse 
it  with  the  washing  of  water  by  the  word,  that  he 
might  present  to  himself  a  glorious  church,  not  hav- 

k  Col.  i.  13.  1  Rom.  viii.  15. 

13* 


154  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

ing  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing,  but  that  it 
should  be  holy^  and  without  blemish.''^  1  Peter  iii.  18; 
^^  For  Christ  also  hath  once  suffered  for  sins,  the  just 
for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  GodP  Col. 
i.  19,  20;  "For  it  pleased  the  Father,  that  in  him 
should  all  fulness  dwell ;  and  having  made  peace 
through  the  blood  of  his  cross,  by  him  to  reconcile  all 
things  to  himself  y  2  Cor.  v.  18,  19 ;  "  And  all  things 
are  of  God,  who  hath  reconciled  us  to  himself  by  Jesus 
Christy  and  hath  given  to  us  the  ministry  of  recon- 
ciliation, to  wit,  that  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling 
the  world  unto  himself  ^ 

Hence  we  learn  that  the  gospel  is  not  a  scheme 
which  God  has  contrived  for  clearing  sinners  from 
suffering  what  his  own  word  solemnly  pronounced 
upon  them ;  but  it  is  a  plan  of  redemption  from  sin 
and  darkness,  into  that  state  of  holy  reconciliation  to 
God,  wherein  they  will  no  more  incur  those  painful 
stripes  which  the  law  threatens  and  inflicts  upon 
transgressors.  Yes,  this  is  the  gospel  purpose  of 
God;  "To  turn  away  every  one  of  you  from  his 
iniquity;"  to  "sanctify  and  cleanse"  you;  to  "recon- 
cile you  to  God,"  and  present  you  "  holy  and  with- 
out blemish."  And  as  far  as  you  are  partakers  of 
the  gospel  salvation  from  sin,  and  of  reconciliation  to 
God, — so  far  you  are  partakers  of  the  gospel  forgive- 
ness, or  deliverance  from  sin.  Of  the  forerunner  of 
Jesus,  it  was  said,  "Thou  shalt  go  before  the  face 
of  the  Lord  to  prepare  his  ways ;  to  give  knowledge 
of  salvation  to  his  people,  by  the  remission  of  their 
sins,  through  the  tender  mercy  of  our  God,  whereby 
the  day-spring  from  on  high  hath  visited  us,  to  give 
light  to  them  that  sit  in  darkness,  and  in  the  shadow 
of  death,  to  guide  our  feet  in  the  way  of  peace."™ 

m  Luke  i.  76—79. 


PUNISHMENT  AND  FORGIVENESS.  155 

Here  we  are  informed  that  the  forerunner  of  the 
world's  Saviour  gave  the  people  knowledge  concern- 
ing that  kind  of  salvation  which  takes  place  by  the 
remission  of  their  sins ;  i.  e.  by  sending  away  tiieir 
sins,  or  freeing  them  from  their  sins.  And  this  free- 
ing from  sins  takes  place  through  the  tender  mercy  of 
God,  whereby  he  makes  the  day-spring  from  on  high 
to  visit  us,  to  give  light  to  them  that  sit  in  darkness, 
to  guide  onr  feet  in  the  way  of  peace. 

Having  considered  the  subjects  of  7J^m^5/^me^^^  and 
forgiveness^  seimrately.,  we  will  now  consider  these 
two  subjects  in  connexion  with  each  other^  that  the 
reader  may  see  that  there  is  no  inconsistency  between 
them  as  they  stand  in  the  Scriptures.  On  the  subject 
of  punishment  we  have  learned  that  God,  in  "render- 
ing to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds,"  will  recom- 
pense "  tribulation  and  anguish  upon  e^ery  soul  of 
man  that  doeth  evil."  Nor  does  the  Scriptural'  doc- 
trine of  forgiveness  contradict  this  sentiment  of 
retribution ;  for  it  teaches  the  forgiveness,  not  of 
deserved  j)unishment^  but  of  sins.  This  forgiveness 
of  sins  frees  men  from  the  suffering  of  that  tribulation 
and  anguish  which  God  doth  recompense  upon  every 
man  that  doeth  evil ;  yet  it  does  not  oppose  the 
doctrine  of  a  just  recompense  to  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  deeds, — for  it  frees  them  from  the  before- 
mentioned  tribulation  and  anguish  by  freeing  them 
from  sin.  Then  being  freed  from  sin,  they  are  no 
longer  that  description  of  persons  upon  which  the 
law  pronounces  its  curses. 

In  the  present  light  of  our  subject,  we  can  perceive 
the  consistency  of  the  sentence  in  the  writings  of 
Moses,  which  was  referred  to  in  the  beginning  of  this 
chapter.     "  The   Lord   God,   merciful   and   gracious, 


156  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

long  suffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth, 
keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity,  and 
transgression,  and  sin,  and  that  will  by  no  means 
clear  the  guilty."  God,  in  tender  mercy  to  sinners, 
employs  means  in  his  wise  and  benevolent  govern- 
ment, to  reform  them,  and  free  them  from  transgres- 
sion and  sin.  And  when,  by  the  influence  of  those 
means  which  the  Divine  government  employs,  sinners 
are  brought  to  repentance,  or  turn  from  the  love  and 
practice  of  sin,  then  too  they  are  freed  from  the  guilt 
and  condemnation  of  sin,  and  God  does  not  impute  to 
them  their  sins,  or  treat  them  as  sinners  any  longer. 
They  are  permitted  to  enjoy  the  sweets  of  communion 
with  God,  in  the  consciousness  of  the  Divine  approba- 
tion, as  if  they  had  never  sinned.  But  while  they  remain 
"guilty,"  walking  in  the  way  of  transgression,  God 
"will  by  no  means  clear"  them  from  the  suffering  of 
that  death  and  misery,  that  tribulation  and  anguish, 
which  the  law  makes  to  be  the  sinner's  just  portion. 
Accordingly,  the  person  who  has  been  forgiven,  has 
suffered  the  proper  punishment  of  his  sins ;  even  as 
the  man  who  has  been  healed  of  a  bodily  disease  has 
suffered  the  natural  evil  of  that  disease.  The  sick 
man  is  freed  from  pain  by  being  freed  from  the  disease 
by  which  the  pain  was  produced.  And  when  the  dis- 
ease is  removed,  and  the  man  restored  to  health,  his  then 
experiencing  a  freedom  from  pain,  and  the  pleasure  of 
bodily  health,  is  in  accordance  with,  and  not  opposed 
to,  that  organic  law  of  the  corporeal  system  which 
connects  pain  with  disease ;  for  the  same  law  connects 
pleasure  with  health.  Even  so,  when  the  man  who 
is  reformed  and  forgiven,  experiences  a  freedom  from 
the  evil  or  punishment  of  sin,  and  enjoys  the  pleasure 
of  virtue  and  truth,  this  is  in  accordance  with,  and 
not  opposed  to,  that  Divine  moral  law,  which  connects 


PUNISHMENT    AND    FORGIVENESS.  157 

punishment  with  sin;  for  the  same  law  connects  a 
holy  and  rational  pleasure  with  virtue  and  truth.  The 
language  of  this  law  is,  "The  righteous  shall  be 
recompensed  in  the  earth ;  much  more  the  wicked  and 
the  sinner.""  ''The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die,— 
in  his  sin  that  he  hath  sinned,  and  in  his  trespass 
that  he  hath  trespassed,  in  them  shall  he  die."  "  But 
if  the  wicked  will  turn  from  all  his  sins  that  he  hath 
committed,  and  do  that  which  is  lawful  and  right,  he 
shall  surely  live.  All  his  transgressions  that  he  hath 
committed,  they  shall  not  be  mentioned  unto  him ;  in 
his  righteousness  he  shall  live."  °  Surely  this  law  is 
not  opposed  to  men's  being  freed  from  the  condemnation 
or  death  of  sin,  when  they  are  freed  from  sin. 

III.  Thus  far  we  have  considered  the  subject  of 
forgiveness  in  its  most  comprehensive  sense,  as  ap- 
plying to  the  operation  of  the  gospel  scheme,  in  de- 
livering the  soul  from  the  love  and  power  of  sin,  and 
thus  working  a  freedom  from  condemnation  and  fear. 
But  this  word,  in  its  more  practical,  and  perhaps  more 
familiar  usage,  even  in  the  Scriptures,  is  applied  to 
that  concomitant  part  of  the  work  of  spiritual  deliver- 
ance, which  consists  in  a  sensible  freedom  of  the 
mind  from  guilt, — a  restoration  to  the  privileges  of 
the  righteous.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  extension  to  the 
penitent  of  the  same  treatment  as  if  he  had  never  sin- 
ned. In  the  language  of  the  Book,  "his  sins  and 
iniquities  shall  be  remembered  no  more." 

This  form  of  forgiveness  always  presupposes  gen- 
uine repentance,  or  reformation.  For  while  one  is  in 
the  life  of  sin,  he  cannot  be  viewed  and  treated  as  if  he 
were  not  a  sinner.     This  would  be  at  war  with  the 

nProv.  xi.  31.  'Ezek.  xviii.  4,  21,  22,  24. 

14 


158  CORIPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

whole  tenor  of  both  law  and  gospel.  In  the  day  or 
dispensation  of  judgment  by  Jesus  Christ,  as  well  as 
in  the  Mosaic  age,  tribulation  and  anguish  shall  be 
upon  every  soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil.p  But  upon 
genuine  reformation,  the  purified  soul  shall  not  be 
taunted  with  his  former  errors,  but  he  shall  live  in  the 
full  fellowship  of  the  spirit,  and  in  the  approbation  of 
the  judgment  of  Heaven. 

This  forgiveness  does  not  involve  the  discharge  of 
men  from  any  moral  obligation  to  God  or  man.  Right 
is  right,  and  wrong  is  wrong,  by  the  law  of  God, 
founded  in  the  eternal  nature  of  things :  and  no  dis- 
pensation from  any  court  can  make  either  to  be  the 
other.  We  cannot  be  absolved  from  any  moral  obliga- 
tion. Indeed,  there  is  no  such  obligation  resting  upon 
us,  but  what  it  would  be  a  curse  to  man  to  be  absolved 
from,  even  if  he  could  be.  But  practical  love  to  God 
and  man  is  our  duty  now  and  forever.  While  we 
live  in  violation  of  it,  we  abide  in  death. "^  When  we 
return  to  duty,  with  a  true  heart,  we  receive  forgive- 
ness of  sins,  the  approbation  of  the  Father,  the  justifica- 
tion of  life.  Then  can  we  adopt  the  beloved  disciple's 
language,  "  We  know  that  we  have  passed  from  death 
unto  life,  because  we  love  the  brethren.'-'  Such,  too,  is 
the  blessedness  resulting  from  the  Christian  reformation, 
as  described  by  the  Saviour  in  his  commission  to  the 
repentant  Saul : — "  For  I  have  appeared  unto  thee  for 
this  purpose,  to  make  thee  a  minister  and  a  witness, 
both  of  these  things  which  thou  hast  seen,  and  of 
those  things  in  the  which  I  will  appear  unto  thee; 
delivering  thee  from  the  people  and  from  the  Gentiles, 
unto  whom  now  I  send  thee,  to  open  their  eyes,  and  to 
turn  them  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power 

pRom.  ii.  6—16.  q  l  John  iii.  14.  rJb. 


PUNISHMENT    AND   FORGIVENESS.  159 

of  satan  unto  God,  that  they  may  receive  forgivejiess 
of  si?is,  and  inheritance  among  them  which  are  sanc- 
tified, by  faith  that  is  in  me."' 

In  this  latter  sense  of  forgiveness,  applying  to  the 
sensible  enjoyment  of  the  Divine  approbation  as  a  con- 
comitant of  the  right  living,  is  the  word  used  by  the 
Saviour  in  the  following  instance: — "Forgive,  if  ye 
have  ought  against  any,  that  your  Father  also  which 
is  in  heaven  may  forgive  you  your  trespasses.  But 
if  ye  do  not  forgive,  neither  will  your  Father  which  is 
in  heaven  forgive  your  trespasses."  ^  We  are  not  to 
construe  this  Scripture  as  teaching  that  God  cherishes 
an  unfriendly  disposition  towards  us  while  we  cherish 
an  unfriendly  disposition  towards  others.  This  would 
represent  him  who  is  the  standard  of  perfection,  as 
copying  in  his  disposition  after  frail  man,  and  even 
after  wicked,  unforgiving  men.  God  is  unchangeably 
good,  "kind  to  the  unthankful  and  the  evil."     Even 

8  Acts  xxvi.  16—18. 

tMatt.  vi.  14,  15.  Mark  xi.  25,  26.  See  also  Matt,  xviii.  21—35. 
Some  learned  theological  writers  use  this  passage  in  support  of  the  doc- 
trine of  endless  punishment  in  the  prison  of  hell.  The  man,  they  saj^,  who 
was  cast  into  prison  or  delivered  to  tormentors  until  he  should  pay  his  debt, 
could  never  make  payment,  and  therefore  could  never  get  released  from 
prison  ;  and  hence  they  argue,  that  those  with  whom  God  deals  thus,  (see  v. 
35,)  will  be  cast  into  a  prison  from  which  there  is  no  deliverance.  But  there 
is  no  authority  either  for  this  statement  or  conclusion.  The  object  of  the 
man  in  the  parable,  who  cast  his  fellow-servant  into  prison,  was,  to  obtain  his 
debt.  "He  cast  him  into  prison,  till  he  should  pay  the  debt."  It  appears 
hence  that  he  expected  that  his  fellow-servant  might  be  able  to  make  some 
arrangement  to  pay  the  debt.  And  the  same  expectation  is  expressed  of 
the  lord  of  the  unforgiving  servant,  when  he  delivered  him  over  to  the 
tormenters,  or  jailers.  And  though  such  debtor  may  have  died  in  prison 
before  he  had  paid  the  debt,  it  does  not  follow  that  those  to  whom  this  para- 
ble is  applied,  might  not  fully  pay  what  their  Lord  required.  The  debt 
required  of  them  was,  to  forgive  their  brethren.  And  as  the  debtor  in  the 
parable  was  to  remain  in  prison  until  he  should  pay  the  debt,  so  should  they 
remain  in  the  prison  of  death,  until  they  should  exercise  a  forgiving  spirit. 
"  He  that  loveth  not  his  brother,  abideth  in  death."  But  there  is  no  evidence 
that  any  will  eternally  continue  in  an  unfriendly  or  unforgiving  spirit. 


160  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

while  men  are  sinners,  God's  kindness  to  them  em- 
ploys means  to  bring  them  to  repentance,  that  they 
may  come  into  the  rich  enjoyment  of  forgiveness,  or 
freedom  from  the  guilt  of  sin.  But  we  learn  from  the 
above  language  of  our  Lord,  that  as  long  as  we  are  in 
the  service  of  sin,  God  will  not  grant  us  a  freedom  from 
its  gidll.  If  we  cherish  an  unkind  and  unforgiving 
disposition  towards  our  fellow-creatures,  we  are  in 
bondage  to  sin ;  for  such  a  disposition  is  sin.  And  it 
is  only  by  repenting  or  turning  from  sin,  and  exercis- 
ing love  which  forgives  our  fellow-creatures,  that  we 
can  experience  ourselves  a  freedom  from  guilt,  and 
enjoy  the  approbation  of  our  Father  in  heaven. 

Although  the  term  forgive,  in  the  last  noticed 
instance,  seems  to  apply  in  particular  to  a  freedom 
from  the  guill  or  condemnation  of  sin,  yet  here  is  like- 
wise implied  that  freedom  from  sin  itself,  which  we 
have  shown  to  be  meant,  in  its  strict  and  com- 
prehensive sense,  by  the  ^ghxdiSQ,  forgive7iess  of  sins. 
Nor  can  the  Christian  find  any  forgiveness  in  his  own 
experience,  but  what  involves  a  deliverance  from  sin. 
The  freedom  from  guilt  which  the  Christian  enjoys,  is 
only  proportional  to  his  freedom  from  the  love  and 
practice  of  evil.  And  when,  as  enlightened  Christians, 
we  pray  to  our  Father,  "  Forgive  us  our  sins,"  we  do 
not  mean  to  ask  God  to  let  us  go  on  in  sin,  and  screen 
us  from  the  punishment  which  he  has  threatened  on 
transgressors;  but  the  sense  of  our  prayer  is,  ^^ Free 
us  from  our  sins,  that  we  may  live  unto  thee,  enjoy 
thine  approbation,  and  suffer  no  longer  that  tribulation 
and  anguish,  which  is  upon  every  soul  of  man  that 
doeth  evil." 

IV.  We  have  now  taken  a  general  view  of  the  doc- 
trine of  punishment  as  it  is  pronounced  by  the  Divine 


PUNISHMENT    AND    FORGIVENESS.  161 

law,  and  administered  by  the  Divine  government ;  and 
also  of  the  doctrine  of  forgiveness  or  remission  of  sins. 
And  it  appears  to  be  a  clear  case,  that  as  these  two 
doctrines  stand  in  the  Scriptures,  there  is  no  inconsis- 
tency between  them.  But  in  addition  to  those  evils 
which  are  regularly,  and  constantly  executed  in  pun- 
ishment upon  sinners  by  the  moral  government  of 
God,  there  are  certain  special  judgments,  or  external 
calamities,  unto  which  individuals  and  nations  subject 
themselves  by  a  certain  course  and  continuance  of 
vice.  And  there  is  a  case  recorded  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, of  one  of  these  special  judgments  being  threat- 
ened on  a  certain  people,  and  their  afterwards  being 
preserved  from  the  suffering  of  it.  On  this  we  will 
here  offer  a  few  remarks,  lest  it  should  be  thought,  by 
some  readers,  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  views  which 
have  now  been  given  on  the  subjects  of  punishment 
and  forgiveness.  "  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
Jonah,  saying.  Arise,  go  unto  Nineveh,  and  preach 
unto  it  the  preaching  that  I  bid  thee."  And  Jonah 
went,  "and  he  cried  and  said.  Yet  forty  days,  and 
Nineveh  shall  be  overthrown."  But  the  people  re- 
pented, and  the  threatened  punishment  was  not  exe- 
cuted upon  them."  Did  not  forgiveness  in  this  case 
oppose  the  threatening  of  God,  and  clear  that  sinful 
people  from  the  punishment  which  was  their  just 
desert?  To  give  a  correct  view  of  the  subject  of  this 
inquiry,  it  is  necessary  to  remark,  that  God  informed  the 
people  by  his  prophets,  that  whenever  he  should  give 
them  warning  of  any  special  calamity,  into  which  their 
course  of  conduct  was  tending  to  bring  them,  and  they, 
on  receiving  his  warning,  should  repent,  they  should 
escape   the  calamity  of  which   they  were  warned.' 

w  Jonah,  chap.  iii.  'Ezek.  xxxiii,  13.  16. 

14* 


162  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

There  could  not  indeed  be  any  reasonable  motive  to 
send  a  messenger  to  forewarn  sinners  of  an  evil  unto 
which  their  course  of  conduct  was  exposing  them,  un- 
less it  were  to  afford  them  an  opportunity  to  avoid  the 
threatened  evil  by  timely  repentance.  Judging  of  the 
case  of  Nineveh  by  the  light  of  this  principle,  by 
which  God  assured  the  people  that  he  would  direct 
his  conduct  in  all  such  instances,  we  must  understand 
it  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  message  which  God  sent  to 
the  Ninevites  by  Jonah,  that  by  a  continuance  in  their 
present  course  of  iniquity  forty  days,  they  should  be- 
come overwhelmed  in  destruction.  But  they  repented, 
and  did  not  continue  in  their  wicked  course  the  forty 
days  longer ;  and  so  they  did  not  suffer  the  threatened 
punishment  of  temporal  destruction.  Accordingly,  the 
Divine  forgiveness  in  this  case  did  not  oppose  the 
Divine  threatening,  nor  screen  those  sinners  from 
deserved  punishment.  While  they  were  sinners,  they 
must  have  suffered  those  evils  with  which  the  regular 
administration  of  the  Divine  government  always  pun- 
ishes the  wicked.  But  they  were  not  to  be  considered 
as  having  incurred,  or  they  were  not  to  be  reckoned 
by  the  judgment  of  God  as  fully  deserving,  that  spe- 
cial external  calamity,  until  they  should  have  con- 
tinued and  multiplied  their  transgressions  to  a  given 
extent.  And  as  their  repentance  prevented  their  con- 
tinuance in  iniquity,  to  that  duration  and  degree  on 
which  was  predicted  the  threatening  of  destruction, 
they  were  freed  from  the  destruction,  by  being  freed 
from  that  degree  of  sin  which  would  have  incurred  or 
fully  deserved  it.  Consequently,  nothing  is  found  in 
this  instance  of  God's  dealing  with  sinners,  inconsis- 
tent with  the  doctrines  of  punishment  and  forgiveness 
as  before  explained. 


PUNISHMENT    AND    FORGIVENESS.  163 

The  humble  acknowledgements  of  Ezra  and  David, 
saying  in  their  addresses  to  God,  that  he  had  not 
dealt  with  them  after  their  sins,  nor  rewarded  them 
according  to  their  iniquities,"^  may  at  first  strike  the 
ear  as  being  opposed  to  the  universal  application  of 
the  testimony  of  the  same  David,  ''  Thou  renderest  to 
every  man  according  to  his  work."*     But  we  think 
Ihat  by  a  fair  construction  of  the  language  referred 
to,  such  opposition  will  not  appear.     It   is  not  pre- 
tended that  mankind  receive  no  benefits  but  on  the 
ground  of  their  merits.     The  recompense  which  God 
renders  to  every  man  according  to  his  deserts,  is  the 
good  or  evil  which  men  enjoy  or  suffer  as  the  fruit 
of  their  moral  conduct.     Besides  these  fruits  of  hu- 
man doings,  there  are  blessings  which  God  bestows 
upon  mankind  of  his  own  munificent  goodness,  and 
not  according  to  their  works.     Even  in  punishing  the 
wicked  according  to  their  deserts,  God  designs  their 
correction  and  consequent  benefit;   and  this  benevo- 
lent design  of  punishment  is  a  good  unto  the  sinner, 
which  is  not   according   to   his   sins,  but   according 
to   the  free   mercy  of  God.      And   when    Ezra   and 
David  offered  the  language   above   mentioned,  their 
people  had  been  far  astray  in  the  path  of  sin,  and  God 
had  punished  and  reformed  them,  and  bestowed  upon 
them   many   blessings   which   they   could    not  have 
claimed   on  the  ground  of  merit.     Being  deeply  af- 
fected with  the  view  of  this  unmerited  goodness  of 
God,  and  having  that  view  of  their  own  ingratitude 
which  caused  David  on  another  occasion  to  say,  "I 
was   as  a  beast  before   thee,"   under   these   circum- 
stances, their  saying  in  prayer  to  God,  "He  hath  not 
dealt  with  us  after  our  sins,"  &c.,  cannot  be  fairly 

w  Ez.  ix.  13.    Ps.  ciii.  10.  *  Ps.  Ixii.  12. 


164  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

construed  as  a  disproof  of  the  doctrine  that  men 
suffer,  while  in  their  sins,  according  to  their  deserts. 
For  though  they  felt  at  such  a  time  not  only  to  con- 
fess the  Divine  goodness  to  be  above  their  merits,  but 
also  to  magnify  the  demerit  of  their  sins  as  being 
above  the  punishment  which  they  had  suffered,  yet 
we  are  not  to  take  an  expression  of  self-reproach, 
which  one  utters  under  a  deep  sense  of  ingratitude 
and  shame,  and  employ  it  as  if  it  disproved  the  well 
supported  and  abstract  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  concern- 
ing the  retributive  government  of  God. 

V.  In  concluding  this  chapter,  it  will  be  proper  to 
say  a  few  words  on  the  forgiveness  which  it  is  re- 
quired of  us  to  extend  to  one  another.  How  are  we  to 
forgive  our  fellow-creatures  ?  Surely  not  by  remitting 
all  punishment.  The  Scriptures  consider  those  rulers 
who  punish  evil-doers  to  be  ministers  of  God,  ordained 
of  him  to  be  a  terror  to  evil  works.  "Whosoever 
resisteth  them,"  saith  St.  Paul,  "resisteth  the  ordi- 
nance of  God.'"''  But  can  these  ministers  of  God^  as 
the  apostle  calls  civil  rulers,  be  what  God  has  ap- 
pointed them  to  be,  a  terror  to  evil-doers,  and  a  praise 
to  them  that  do  well,  if  they  are  always  to  clear  the 
guilty  from  punishment  7  If  we  cannot  fulfil  the  com- 
mand to  f 07^ give  those  who  tresi^ass  against  tis,  without 
clearing  them  in  all  cases  from  punishment,  then  we  are 
every  day  living  in  violation  of  the  Divine  requirement, 
by  supporting  our  present  system  of  civil  government ; 
for  our  civil  government  inflicts  punishment  on  those 
who  transgress  its  wholesome  laws. 

But  wc  have  seen  that  the  Divine  forgiveness  is  not 
a  deliverance  from  deserved pimishment^  but  a  deliver- 
ance from  the  love  and  power  of  sin,  and  its  attendant 

>  Rom.  xiii.  2,  3. 


PUNISHMENT   AND   FORGIVENESS.  165 

condemnation.  And  although  we  cannot  in  the  high- 
est sense  forgive  sins,  so  as  directly  to  free  others  from 
guilt,  yet  we  can  forgive  the  sins  of  others  so  far  as  it 
respects  our  own  feelings  and  conduct  towards  them. 
We  can  cherish  towards  them  that  spirit  of  favor, 
which  will  employ  such  means  as  human  agency  can 
use,  to  lead  those  who  trespass  against  us  out  of  their 
errors,  and  restore  them  to  the  favor  of  society.  We 
can  exercise  towards  them  that  spirit  of  love  and  good 
will,  which  shall  forgive  the  injury  as  far  as  we  can 
forgive,  "sending  it  away  from"  our  feelings,  so  that 
it  shall  not  put  into  action  a  spirit  of  revenge,  to  injure 
them  because  they  have  injured  us.  And  this  forgive- 
ness may  be  exercised  towards  one  whom  we  are  the 
means  of  bringing  to  punishment.  We  may  chain  or 
confine  a  madman,  in  the  exercise  of  the  best  of  feel- 
ings towards  him,  when  his  own  safety  or  that  of  the 
community  seems  to  require  it.  Even  so  we  may 
bring  a  transgressor  to  punishment,  when  his  own 
good  or  the  safety  of  the  community  seems  to  require 
it,  while  we  harbor  no  unfriendly  disposition  towards 
him,  but  exercise  that  love  which  pities  his  folly,  and 
aims  to  promote  his  welfare.  This  same  disposition, 
if  the  punishment  which  we  are  the  means  of  having 
inflicted  proves  salutary,  or  if  by  any  other  means  he 
becomes  reformed,  and  returns  to  society  a  good  man, 
this  same  disposition  will  lead  us  to  receive  him  to 
our  respect,  and  give  him  a  brother's  hand,  as  if  he 
had  never  transgressed.  It  will  dismiss  his  sins,  or 
blot  them  out  of  remembrance. 

Here,  then,  is  a  man  who  has  been  punished  and  for- 
given, in  human  society.  I  do  not  mean  that  he  has 
had  his  'punishment  forgiven.  But  he  has  had  his 
punishment  administered,  and  his  trajisgressiojis  for- 


166  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

given.  His  transgressions  are  blotted  out  of  remem- 
brance, and  society  receives  him  as  a  just  man.  And 
when  we  possess  and  practise  the  spirit  here  described, 
which  scorns  retahation,  and  desires  and  seeks  the 
good  of  all,  we  can  safely  and  consistently  pray  to  our 
Father  in  heaven,  "  Forgive  us  our  sins,  as  we  forgive 
those  who  trespass  against  us." 

OBJECTION. 

It  has  been  objected,  that  if  man  is  adequately  pun- 
ished for  his  sins,  and  that  punishment  is  limited  in  its 
duration,  he  is  not  then  saved  by  grace,  but  may  de- 
mand heaven  as  a  right.  But  this  objection,  though 
frequently  offered,  is  founded  upon  an  entire  miscon- 
ception of  the  subject.  What  particular  right  to  sub- 
sequent favor  does  a  man  gain  by  the  mere  fact  of  his 
suffering  for  his  sins  7  If  his  punishment  proves  a 
means  of  promoting  his  reformation,  and  obedience  to 
the  law,  it  in  this  manner  operates  as  a  favor  to  the 
punished.  But  it  gives  him  no  claim  on  the  future 
favor  of  the  Supreme  Governor. 

Suppose  a  child  transgresses  his  father's  law,  and  the 
father,  for  his  correction,  subjects  him  to  punishment. 
The  punishment  proves  salutary,  and  by  this  and  other 
means  the  child  is  reformed.  In  a  subsequent  conver- 
sation with  the  father,  the  child  inquires  whether  he 
received  an  adequate  punishment  for  the  said  trans- 
gression. The  father  answers  in  the  affirmative. 
''  Then,"  says  the  child,  "  I  demand  of  you,  as  my  just 
desert,  a  valuable  estate,  for  my  inheritance."  "  What 
is  your  claim?"  says  the  father.  "It  is  the  punish- 
ment  you  inflicted  upon  me,"  responds  the  child. 
Who  would  not  regard  this  a  singular  ground  for  such 
a  claim  ?     His  punishment  was  the  just  recompense 


PUNISHMENT  AND  FORGIVENESS,  167 

of  his  disobedience ;  but  who  shall  say  that  a  rich  es- 
tate must  be  made  over  to  him  by  the  father,  as  the 
just  recompense  of  his  punishment  7  Yet  this  would 
be  in  character  with  the  foregoing  argument,  that  if 
the  sinner  is  made,  by  the  judgment  of  God,  to  receive 
according  to  his  deserts,  he  may  then  claim  heaven  as 
his  right. 

Though  punishment  is,  in  a  legal  sense,  according 
to  men's  deserts,  yet  there  is  something,  even  about 
this,  as  I  have  shown  in  this  chapter,  which  is  not 
according  to  our  works.  That  benevolent,  that  fa- 
therly design^  for  which  God  administers  chastise- 
ment, is  not  according  to  our  works,  but  according 
to  his  own  infinite  goodness.  And  when,  by  his  judg- 
ments, and  by  the  applications  of  his  truth  and  love,  he 
weans  us  from  sin,  and  wins  our  affections  to  him  and 
his  law,  we  are  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  his 
favor.  To  think  of  the  punishment  we  had  suffered 
as  entitling  us  to  heaven,  would  be  the  most  consum- 
mate weakness,  madness  and  folly.  We  could  only 
think  of  it  with  humility,  as  the  fruit  of  our  sins.  We 
have  nothing  for  the  future  to  claim  on  the  ground  of 
our  merits.  Our  hopes,  full  of  comfort  and  peace,  are 
in  the  grace  of  God,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
In  the  light  and  spirit  of  the  gospel  there  is  no  boast- 
ing ;  for  we  feel  that  in  us  is  being  fulfilled  the  mis- 
sion of  the  Son,  "  to  give  knowledge  of  salvation  unto 
his  people,  by  the  remission  of  their  sins,  through  the 
tender  mercy  of  our  God,  whereby  the  day-spring  from 
on  high  hath  visited  us ;  to  give  light  to  them  that  sit 
in  darkness,  and  in  the  shadow  of  death,  to  guide  our 
feet  into  the  way  of  peace." ' 

z  Luke  i.  77—79. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE    PERSON    OF    CHRIST.      WHO   IS   HE  ? 
SECTION    I. 

An  Examination^  by  the  Light  of  Scripture^  of  Pre- 
vaiVurg  Opinions  concerning  Christ. 

In  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel, 
there  is  the  record  of  a  confession  of  faith  in  Christy 
made  by  a  leading  apostle,  which  is  so  unambiguous, 
and  which  met  with  so  unreserved  an  approval  of 
Christ  himself,  that  I  will  direct  the  reader's  mind  to 
it  here  in  the  outset,  that  in  the  midst  of  all  contro- 
versies on  the  subject  of  the  person  of  Jesus,  we  may- 
have  this  as  our  polar  star  by  which  to  make  our 
course. 

"  When  Jesus  came  into  the  coasts  of  Cesarea  Phil- 
ippi,  he  asked  his  disciples,  saying.  Whom  do  men 
say  that  I,  the  Son  of  man,  am  ?  And  they  said.  Some 
say  that  thou  art  John  the  Baptist ;  some,  Elias :  and 
others,  Jeremias,  or  one  of  the  prophets.  He  saith 
unto  them,  But  whom  say  ye  that  I  am  7 

'^  And  Simon  Peter  answered  and  said.  Thou  art 
THE  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God. 

"  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him.  Blessed 
art  thou,  Simon  Bar-jona ;  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not 
revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  which  is  in  hea- 
ven. And  I  say  also  unto  thee,  that  thou  art  Peter ; 
and  upon  this  rock  will  I  build  my  church,  and  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it." 

Hence  it  appears  that  faith  in  Christ  as  the  Son  of 


THE   PERSON    OF    CHRIST.  169 

God,  was  the  true  faith  from  heaven,  and  that  on 
which  he  builds  his  church.  Why,  then,  have  many- 
modern  Christians  required  their  brethren  to  beUeve 
in  Christ,  not  as  the  ''Son  of  the  Uving  God,"  but  as 
the  very  Hving  God  himself?  This  they  have  done, 
and  made  a  belief  that  Christ  is  the  true  essential  God 
an  indispensable  article  in  the  Christian  doctrine. 

I  have  not,  in  my  public  labors,  often  entered  into  a 
discussion  of  this  particular  subject.  It  is  because  I 
have  considered  the  Scriptures  sufficiently  plain  upon 
it  without  comment ;  and  I  have  furthermore  been  in 
the  habit  of  thinking,  that  if  all  Christians  will  be- 
lieve in  Christ,  as  the  One  altogether  sufficient  to 
perform  the  great  work  which  the  Scriptures  inform 
us  he  came  to  do,  it  is  of  minor  consequence  now, 
whether  they  believe  he  is  the  very  God,  or  One  that 
proceeded  and  came  forth  from  God.  Perhaps  another 
considerable  reason  for  my  being  less  engaged,  and 
saying  less  in  public,  on  this,  than  on  most  Scriptural 
subjects,  is  the  circumstance  that  I  have  never  experi- 
enced any  trials  and  difficulties  on  it  myself  When 
we  have  undergone  considerable  misery  on  account 
of  doubts  and  perplexities  upon  any  subject,  and 
have  obtained  a  happy  deliverance  from  such  trou- 
bles, we  very  naturally  feel  more  interested  for  others 
on  that  subject. 

But  respecting  the  person  of  Christ,  my  mind  has 
never  been  in  any  painful  anxiety.  From  a  child, 
though  I  was  brought  up  among  Trinitarians,  and  re- 
ceived my  first  religious  impressions  from  them,  the 
language  which  they  used,  as  well  as  that  which  the 
Scriptures  employ,  in  speaking  of  Christ,  carried  the 
impression  to  my  mind  that  he  is  a  being  distinct  from 
God,  and  that  he  derived  his  existence  from  God,  is 
15 


170  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

dependent  on  him,  and  is  ordained  and  empowered  of 
him  to  be  the  Saviour  of  lost  men.  And  as  I  have 
read  the  Scriptures,  and  the  controversial  writings  of 
Trinitarians  themselves,  my  former  impressions  have 
been  confirmed. 

Yet  there  are  m.any  learned  and  influential  Chris- 
tians, who  so  confidently  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  self-existent  Jehovah,  and  think  the  behef  so  essen- 
tial to  the  Christian  religion,  that  they  boldly  denounce 
all  persons  as  infidels  who  do  not  believe  it.  This  is 
surely  a  high  charge,  and  ought  never  to  be  preferred 
by  one  class  of  professing  Christians  against  another, 
without  the  best  and  most  unquestionable  authority. 
And  since  this  charge  of  infidelity,  upon  the  opinion 
which  I  have  now  frankly  professed,  comes  from  men 
of  high  standing  in  the  Christian  community,  we  will 
carefully  examine  again,  to  see  whether  the  Scriptures 
authorize  these  hard  speeches,  which  men  have  uttered 
against  us. 

Now  if  the  apostles  were  of  the  opinion  that  Christ 
was  the  self-existent  God,  they  would  very  naturally 
have  expressed  such  an  opinion  in  the  case  before  us. 
For  Jesus  here  asked  them,  saying,  "Whom  do  men 
say  that  I,  the  Son  of  man,  am  7  And  they  said.  Some 
say  that  thou  art  John  the  Baptist ;  some,  Elias ;  and 
others,  Jeremias,  or  one  of  the  prophets.  He  saith 
unto  them,  But  whom  say  ye  that  I  am?" 

He  has  now  prepared  the  way  for  a  direct  answer 
from  his  disciples,  and  an  explicit  statement  of  their 
opinion,  if  they  had  any  decided  opinion,  concerning 
him.  And  we  have  every  reason  to  expect  that  now, 
after  having  spoken  of  the  opinions  of  others  concern- 
ing Jesus,  in  answering  this  direct  and  pointed  ques- 
tion of  their  Lord,  "but  whom  say  ye  that  I  am?" 


PERSON    OF    CHRIST.  171 

they  will  express  their  very  highest  opinion  of  his 
character,— that  they  will,  in  a  simple,  an  unambig- 
uous form  of  speech,  give  him  as  high  a  character  as 
they  think  he  sustains ;— in  short,  that  they  will 
plainly  tell  him  just  who  they  think  he  is. 

What  was  their  answer?  That  they  believed  he 
was  the  eternal  God,  the  self-existent  Jehovah  ?  No. 
'•  Simon  Peter  answered  and  said,  Thou  art  the  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God." 

Hence  it  appears  that  the  apostles  did  not  believe 
that  Jesus  was  the  "living  God,"  but  that  he  was 
"the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God."  If  any  sup- 
pose that  notwithstanding  they  called  Jesus  the  Son 
of  the  living  God,  they  yet  believed  he  was  the  very 
living  God  himself,  believing  that  the  Son  was  his 
own  Father,  and  the  Father  his  own  Son,  they  tax 
the  disciples  with  that  palpable  absurdity  of  which 
their  own  words  in  no  case  prove  them  guilty.  At 
this  time,  when  they  were  directly  asked  what  they 
thought  of  Jesus,  and  at  every  other  time  when  they 
spoke  of  him,  they  spoke  of  him  as  a  being  separate 
from  God  the  Father,— as  much  as  Paul  did  of  men 
in  general,  when  he  called  them  "the  offspring  of 
God." 

If  any  ask  whether  Peter  had  a  correct  opinion  of 
Christ  when  he  called  him  the  Son  of  the  living  God, 
the  answer  is,  his  opinion  was  correct,  because  it 
received  the  full  and  unreserved  approbation  of 
Christ.  His  reply  was,  "Blessed  art  thou,  Simon 
Bar-jona,  (Son  of  Jonah,)  for  flesh  and  blood  hath 
not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  who  is  in 
heaven."  Here  we  also  find,  that  while  Jesus  speaks 
a  sentence  with  the  design  to  express  his  approval  of 
what  Peter  said  of  him,  he  uses  language  apparently 


172  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

without  designing  it,  which  ascribes  to  himself  the 
same  character.  "  Flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed 
it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven." 

If  any  can  believe  that,  when  Jesus  called  God  his 
Father  who  is  in  heaven,  he  meant  to  be  understood 
that  he  himself  was  that  very  Father  in  heaven, 
nothing  can  be  too  absurd  for  their  belief  The  Cath- 
olic doctrine  of  Transubstantiation,  for  inconsistency, 
is  nothing  in  comparison.  For  the  doctrine  of  Tran- 
substantiation only  supposes  that  the  same  power 
which  changed  water  into  wine,  changes  the  bread  of 
the  sacrament  out  of  one  substance  into  another.  And 
this  we  can  conceive  a  miracle  might  do.  But  it  is 
impossible  to  conceive  that  a  father  can  be  his  own 
son,  and  a  son  his  own  father  ! 

In  order  to  qualify  ourselves  to  answer  with  the 
readiness  of  Peter,  any  who  may  ask  us — What  think 
ye  of  Christ?  Who  is  he? — let  us  go  back  to  the 
beginning,  and  examine  the  Scriptures  along  in 
course,  which  testify  of  him. 

The  first  is  Genesis  iii.  15,  where  God  declares  that 
the  seed  of  the  woman  shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head. 
No  one  would  be  led  to  suppose,  by  reading  this  text, 
that  the  seed  of  the  woman  was  the  very  God  himself 
who  was  speaking.  This  Scripture  implies  that  the 
seed  of  the  woman  was  a  person  who  should  proceed 
from  the  woman,  and  should  be  commissioned  and 
empowered  of  God  to  destroy  the  cause  of  evil. 

Again,  Gen.  xxii.  18,  "And  in  thy  seed  shall  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  Paul  informs 
us  that  this  seed  is  Christ :  not  God,  but  the  One 
whom  God  raised  up,  of  the  seed  of  Abraham,  to 
bless  the  world. 

Isaiah  ix.  6,  speaks  of  Christ  in  the  highest  terms, 


PERSON    OF    CHRIST.  173 

thus :. — "  His  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful,  Coun- 
sellor, the  Mighty  God,  the  Everlasting  Father,  the 
Prince  of-  Peace."  This  text  has  frequently  been 
quoted  in  support  of  the  opinion  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
God  the  Father.  But  to  me  this  very  text  seems  to 
weigh  against  such  an  opinion.  Speaking  of  some 
person,  it  is  said,  "  His  name  shall  be  called  Wonder- 
ful," &c.  Whose  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful  ?  It 
does  not  appear  that  the  prophet  was  speaking  of 
the  self-existent  God,  for  He  was  already  known  by 
the  most  important  names  here  mentioned.  He  was 
known  as  the  Father  of  all,  and  not  only  as  the 
"Mighty  God,"  but  as  the  "Almighty  God."  The 
prophet  certainly  appears  to  be  speaking,  not  of  the 
real  God,  but  of  some  other  being  who  should  be 
honored  with  high  appellations.  We  repeat  the  ques- 
tion, Of  whom  does  he  speak  ? 

We  will  read  the  first  part  of  the  verse.  "  For 
unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given; 
and  the  government  shall  be  upon  his  shoulder ;  and 

his  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful,"  It  would 

seem  that  this  is  enough  to  satisfy  any  candid  mind, 
that  the  prophet  was  not  speaking  of  the  eternal  God, 
but  of  some  one  v/no  was  to  be  born  a  child,  and  to 
have  a  government  or  a  kingdom  committed  to  him. 
But  to  say  that  He,  whom  the  heaven  of  heavens  can- 
not contain,  who  fills  immensity  and  inhabits  eternity, 
was  to  be  born  a  child,  and  have  a  government  given 
him,  is  what  the  prophet  could  not  have  meant.  The 
government,  even  the  government  of  the  universe, 
v/as  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord  Jehovah  from  all  eter- 
nity. Hence,  the  government  never  was  nor  ever 
could  be  given  him.  But  when  it  was  said  of  Christ, 
"the  government  shall  be  upon  his  shoulder,"  this 
15^ 


174  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

government  was  to  be  given  him  ; — as  it  was  said  by 
the  prophet  Daniel,  ''  And  there  was  given  him  do- 
minion, and  glory,  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  people, 
nations,  and  languages  should  serve  him." 

Speaking  of  this  same  exaltation  of  Christ,  and 
placing  the  government  on  his  shoulder,  Paul  to  the 
Philippians  says, — "Wherefore  God  also  hath  highly 
exalted  him,  and  given  him  a  name  which  is  above 
every  name ;  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee 
should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  in  earth, 
and  things  under  the  earth,  and  that  every  tongue 
should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord  to  the  glory 
of  God  the  Father."  And  again,  to  the  Ephesians; 
''  That  the  God  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father 
of  glory,  may  give  unto  you  the  spirit  of  wisdom, — 
that  ye  may  know  what  is  the  exceeding  greatness  of 
his  power  to  us-ward  who  believe,  according  to  the 
working  of  his  mighty  power,  which  he  wrought  in 
Christ,  when  he  raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  set 
him  at  his<  own  right  hand  in  the  heavenly  places ; 
far  above  all  principality,  and  power,  and  might,  and 
dominion,  and  every  name  that  is  named,  not  only  in 
this  world,  but  also  in  that  which  is  to  come.  And 
hath  put  all  things  under  him,  and  gave  him  to  be 
Head  over  all  things  to  the  church,  which  is  his  body, 
the  fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all;"  and  to  the 
Corinthians  he  says, — "When  all  things  shall  be  sub- 
dued unto  him,  then  shall  the  Son  also  himself  be 
subject  unto  him  that  put  all  things  under  him,  that 
God  may  be  all  in  all." 

Now  it  is  utterly  out  of  my  power  to  believe  that 
these  Scriptures  mean,  that  the  eternal  God  was  to  be 
born  a  child,  have  dominion  and  a  kingdom  given 
him ;  that  he  was  to  die,  be  raised   from  the  dead, 


PERSON    OF    CHRIST.  175 

and  set  at  his  own  right  hand, — and  when  he  has 
subdued  all  things  under  him,  that  then  he  [God] 
shall  be  subject  to  himself  I 

Had  we  not  known  that  a  respectable  body  of 
Christians  hold  to  a  sentiment  which  requires  such  an 
understanding  of  these  Scriptures,  if  we  had  heard 
one  attempting  so  to  construe  them,  we  should  cer- 
tainly have  thought  that  he  was  designedly  ridiculing 
the  inspired  writers.  But  as  it  is,  we  do  not  harbor 
the  thought.  Those  who  hold  to  the  real  deity  of 
Christ,  do  not  mean  to  trifle  with  the  sacred  writ- 
ings, but  have  the  impression  strongly  fixed  upon 
their  minds  that  such  an  opinion  is  essential  to  the 
christian  faith.  And  when  the  inconsistencies  which 
we  have  noticed  are  brought  before  them,  they  endea- 
vor to  satisfy  themselves  and  others,  by  giving  them 
the  milder  name,  mysteries. 

But  to  me,  the  idea  that  the  high  and  lofty  One 
who  inhabiteth  eternity,  was  born  a  child,  killed, 
raised  from  the  dead,  and  exalted  at  his  own  right 
hand,  does  not  appear  so  much  a  mystery,  but  that  it 
may  be  clearly  seen  to  be  the  greatest  of  absurdities. 

Perhaps,  to  avoid  this  difficulty,  we  may  be  told 
that  the  Godhead  consists  of  three  persons,  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  these  three  are  one, 
the  same  in  substance,  equal  in  power  and  glory. 
And  this  one,  who  was  crucified  and  raised  from  the 
dead,  was  the  second  person  in  the  Trinity,  God  the 
Son.  He  was  raised  up  and  set  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  first  person,  God  the  Father. 

But  this  attempt  to  explain  away  the  former  diffi- 
culty involves  another  equally  as  great.  For  if  by 
three  equal  persons  be  meant  three  equal  beings,  each 
of  which    is   God,   it   requires   us   to  worship   three 


176  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

Gods;  whereas  the  Scriptures  allow  us  to  worship 
out  one. 

Should  it  be  said  that  the  three  persons  are  not 
three  distinct  beings,  but  are  meant  only  to  be  expres- 
sive of  different  qualities,  offices,  or  modes  of  action, 
in  the  same  being,  who  is  strictly  one  God, — and  that 
Christ  is  this  one  God ;  then  we  are  thrown  entirely 
back  into  our  former  confusion.  Yes,  and  more ;  it 
makes  out  that  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  are 
neither  of  them,  nor  all  of  them  God,  nor  any  other 
being,  but  only  three  qualities  or  offices  of  God. 

Indeed,  I  have  never  seen  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity  stated  in  any  form,  but  that  it  was  equally 
inconsistent  with  Reason  and  Revelation.  If  we  say 
that  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  are  three  dis- 
tinct beings,  and  each  one  is  God,  then  we  make  out 
that  there  are  three  Gods.  If  we  say  they  are  only 
three  offices  or  modes  in  which  the  one  God  acts,  then 
we  do  not  suppose  either  of  them  to  be  a  proper 
person  or  being,  but  they  are  only  three  offices  of  a 
being.  Hence,  when  God  exalted  the  Son,  called  the 
second  person  in  the  Trinity,  at  his  own  right  hand, 
it  was  only  exalting  the  second  office  in  his  dominions, 
and  making  it  equal  with  the  first. 

If  we  say  that  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy.  Ghost, 
are  nothing  more  than  three  names,  all  applied  to  the 
one  living  God,  then,  when  we  read,  "  Unto  us  a  child 
is  born," — we  must  suppose  either,  as  before  noticed, 
that  the  eternal  God  was  to  be  born  a  child,  or  else 
that  one  of  his  three  names  was  the  child  that  should 
be  born,  and  have  the  government  placed  upon  its 
shoulder !  And  when  God  raised  Christ  from  the 
dead,  and  set  him  at  his  own  right  hand,  he  either 
raised  himself  from  the  dead,  and  set  himself  at  his 


PERSON    OF    CHRIST.  177 

own  right  hand,  or  else  only  raised  up  from  the  dead 
one  of  his  three  names,  and  placed  it  at  his  right 
hand !  And  all  these  suppositions  are,  not  as  some 
have  said,  above  reason,  but  below  reason ;  for  reason 
soars  above  them,  looks  down  upon  them,  and  detects 
their  inconsistencies. 

We  are  by  no  means  disposed  to  disbelieve  every 
thing  that  is  mysterious.  We  acknowledge,  in  our 
faith,  the  truth  of  many  things  which  we  cannot  fully 
comprehend.  For  instance,  we  believe  in  the  exis- 
tence of  God,  which  we  cannot  fully  comprehend. 
But  though  we  cannot  fully  comprehend  the  existence 
of  an  infinite  God,  yet  there  is  nothing  inconsistent  or 
unreasonable  about  it.  We  can  form  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  the  truth  that  there  is  one  self-existent,  eternal 
God,  who  fills  immensity,  and  who  governs  the 
universe. 

But  to  say  there  are  three  persons,  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, — that  the  Father  by  himself  is 
the  self-existent,  eternal  God, — and  that  the  Son  by 
himself  is  the  self-existent,  eternal  God, — and  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  by  itself  is  the  self-existent,  eternal  God ; 
and  yet  that  there  are  not  three  Gods,  but  one  God 
only,  is  to  say  that  of  which  we  can  form  no  concep- 
tion, only  that  we  can  clearly  perceive  it  to  be  a 
perfect  absurdity. 

Or,  if  we  say  that  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, 
are  not  three  infinite  persons,  but  only  three  names  of 
the  one  infinite  God,  though  so  far  there  is  no  incon- 
sistency, otherwise  than  that  the  term  son  is  an 
inappropriate  name  to  apply  to  a  being  who  can 
acknowledge  no  father,  because  he  is  self-existent  and 
without  beginning, — yet  the  difficulty  comes  to  view 
when  we  attempt  to  reconcile  this  with  the  Scriptures. 


178  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

For  the  Scriptures  speak  of  God  and  Christ,  or  the 
Father  and  Son,  as  not  two  names  only,  but  as  two 
persons,  two  beings.  And  the  apostles,  if  they  have 
testified  rightly,  knew  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living 
God,  to  be  not  a  name  merely,  but  a  person  ;  and  this 
person,  the  Son,  spoke  of  another  person,  God,  as 
being  his  Father. 

But  when  we  look  at  Christ  as  properly  the  Son  of 
God,  and  less  than  the  Father,  as  he  himself  says,  "  My 
Father  is  greater  than  I  f  when  we  understand  that 
all  that  he  is,  is  what  God  hath  made  him  to  be,  and 
all  the  power  and  authority  he  has,  is  what  God  has 
given  him, — there  is  no  difficulty  in  conceiving  that 
he  was  born  into  this  world  a  child ;  that  he  grew  in 
favor  with  God  and  man,  and  had  the  government 
placed  upon  his  shoulder ;  that  he  was  killed  by 
wicked  men,  and  that  God  hath  raised  him  again 
from  the  dead,  set  him  at  his  own  right  hand,  and 
has  given  him  a  name  and  authority  above  all  other 
created  beings. 

How,  then,  you  will  inquire,  shall  we  understand 
the  prophet  when  he  says,  "  His  name  shall  be  called 
The  Mighty  God,  the  Everlasting  Father  ?"  To  this 
question  I  reply  ;  It  is  much  easier  to  account  for  a 
created  being,  who  is  born  into  the  world  for  so  great 
a  purpose  as  that  of  being  the  ''  Saviour  of  all  men  ;'' 
I  say,  it  is  much  easier  to  account  for  such  a  person 
having  these  high  names  given  him,  than  to  remove 
those  difficulties  which  we  have  seen  to  fall  in  the 
way  of  understanding  the  "living  God''  to  be  the 
''child"  who  should  be  born,  and  the  "son"  who 
should  be  given.  For  it  is  well  known  that  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures  often  give  names  to  created 
beings  which  properly  belong  to  God,  or  to  some  of 


PERSON    OF    CHRIST.  179 

his  attributes,  on  account  of  some  part  they  are  to  act 
which  shows  forth  the  power  and  goodness  of  God. 
Thus  one  v/as  called  Eladah^  which,  according  to 
Butterworth,  signifies  the  eternity  of  God.  Another  is 
called  Eldaah^  the  Knowledge  of  God.  Another, 
Hiel^ — Life  of  God.  Another,  Pennd^  Face  of  God. 
And  another,  on  account  of  the  Divine  power  dis- 
played through  him,  was  called  Elijah^  which  is  God 
the  Lord,  or  a  strong  Lord.  And  addressing  the  rulers 
of  Israel,  the  Lord  said,  "I  have  said,  ye  are  gods." 
It  was  because  the  Avord  of  God  came  to  them,  and 
they  imitated  him  in  that  they  ruled  over  men,  that  God 
applied  to  them  his  own  name,  and  called  them  gods. 

Is  it  hard,  then,  to  account  for  its  being  said  of  Christ, 
'■'•  His  name  shall  be  called  the  Mighty  God,  the  Ever- 
lasting Father,"— though  he  is  not  the  self-existent 
God, — since  God  has  committed  into  his  hand  the 
government  of  the  moral  world,  and  given  him  a 
name  above  every  name,  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus 
every  knee  should  bow  7 

Harmer,  an  English  author  of  the  last  century,  in 
his  Observations  on  Passages  of  Scripture,  makes  the 
following  remarks  on  the  phrase,  "  His  name  shall  be 
called  the  Everlasting  Father  :  "  "  It  is  common  in  the 
East  to  describe  any  quality  of  a  person  by  calling  him 
the  father  of  the  quality.  Dr.  Herbelot,  speaking  of  a 
very  eminent  physician,  says  he  performed  such  ad- 
mirable cures,  that  he  was  surnamed  the  father  of 
benedictions.  The  original  word  of  this  title  of  Christ, 
may  be  rendered,  the  father  of  that  which  is  everlast- 
ing:— Christ,  therefore,  as  the  head  and  introducer  of 
an  everlasting  dispensation,  never  to  give  place  to  an- 
other, was  very  naturally  in  the  Eastern  style  called 
the  Father  of  Eternity." 


180  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

Let  US  read  farther  the  testimony  concerning  Christ, 
to  see  whether  he  is  not  continually  spoken  of  as  a  being 
dependent  on  God,  and  by  him  endowed  with  all  his 
power  and  greatness.  See  Isa.  xlii.  '^  Behold  my 
Servant  whom  I  uphold,  mine  Elect  in  whom  my  soul 
delighteth :  I  have  put  my  spirit  upon  him ;  he  shall 
bring  forth  judgment  to  the  Gentiles. — I  will  hold  thy 
hand  and  keep  thee,  and  give  thee  for  a  covenant  of 
the  people,  for  a  light  of  the  Gentiles."  Also,  Isa. 
liii.  "He  is  despised  and  rejected  of  men,  a  man  of 
sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief, — yet  we  did  esteem 
him  stricken,  smitten  of  God,  and  afflicted. — All  we 
like  sheep  have  gone  astray ;  and  the  Lord  hath  laid 
on  him  the  iniquities  of  us  all.  And  he  made  his 
grave  with  the  wicked,  and  with  the  rich  in  his  death ; 
because  he  had  done  no  violence, — neither  was  any 
deceit  in  his  mouth.  Yet  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise 
him ;  he  hath  put  him  to  grief:  when  thou  shalt  make 
his  soul  an  offering  for  sin,  he  shall  see  his  seed,  he 
shall  prolong  his  days  ;  and  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord 
shall  prosper  in  his  hand." 

Who  is  this  servant  of  God  whom  he  has  promised 
to  uphold,  and  to  endow  with  his  spirit,  to  hold  by  the 
hand  and  keep,  and  give  for  a  covenant  of  the  people  ; 
who  was  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief; 
who  died  for  our  sins,  and  made  his  grave  with  the 
wicked  and  with  the  rich  in  his  death?  Is  it  the 
almighty  God  himself?  Let  us  not  so  trifle  with  this 
solemn  subject,  and  with  the  Scriptures,  as  to  assert  it 
for  a  moment.  God  would  not  have  called  himself 
his  own  servant,  nor  would  he  solemnly  have  prom- 
ised to  uphold  himself,  and  put  upon  himself  his  holy 
spirit.  Neither  has  God  been  put  to  death ;  nor  can  he 
ever  die,  and  make  "  his  grave  with  the  wicked,  and 


PERSOiN    OF    CHRIST.  181 

with  the  rich  in  his  death."     If  God  were  dead,  who 
then  could  Hve  7 

Should  it  be  here  said,  that  it  was  not  the  infinite 
or  Divine  nature,  but  the  human  nature  of  God  that 
suffered  and  died,  I  reply:  If  by  the  human  nature  be 
meant,  not  God  himself,  but  his  elect  Servant,  whom 
he  has  promised  to  uphold,  and  give  as  a  covenant  of 
the  people  and  a  light  of  the  Gentiles,  I  have  no  objec- 
tion to  the  idea  that  it  was  he  who  suftered  and  died, 
and  rose  again,  and  sits  in  glory  at  the  right  hand  of 
God.  But  I  object  to  the  term,  hinnan  nature  of  God. 
It  is  not  in  the  law  nor  in  the  testimony.  I  much  pre- 
fer the  good  Scriptural  names  applied  to  Jesus;  not 
the  human  nature  of  God,  but  the  Son  of  God,  the 
elect  Servant  of  God,  the  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the 
world. 

At  length  the  fulness  of  times  came,  when  the  prom- 
ised Child  should  be  bom,  when  the  promised  Son  should 
be  given.  Previously  to  his  being  born,  however,  an 
angel  from  heaven  said  unto  Joseph,  who  was  sup- 
posed by  the  people  to  be  his  father,  "  Thou  shalt  call 
his  name  Jesus,  for  he  shall  save  his  people  from  their 
sins."  And  immediately  after  his  birth,  an  angel  of 
the  Lord  came  to  a  company  of  Israelitish  shepherds, 
and  addressed  them,  saying,  "Fear  not,  for,  behold,  I 
bring  you  good  tidings  of  great  joy,  which  shall  be  to 
all  people.  For  unto  you  is  born  this  day  in  the  city 
of  David,  a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the  Lord.  And 
this  shall  be  a  sign  unto  you,  ye  shall  find  the  babe 
wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes,  lying  in  a  manger." 

Now  all  this   testimony  shows   that  Christ  is  not 

God,  but  a  precious  gift  of  God  to  the  children  of  men. 

For  while  Christ  was  a  babe  in  the  manger,  God  was 

enthroned  in  heaven,  and  sent  his  angels  down  to  men 

16 


182  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

to  proclaim  the  Saviour's  birth.  Yes,  God  then  filled 
immensity,  and  was  superintending  the  affairs  of  the 
universe. 

But  of  the  child  Jesus  it  is  said  that  he  ''  grew  and 
waxed  strong  in  the  spirit,  filled  with  wisdom,  and  the 
grace  of  God  was  upon  him."  At  length  he  came  to 
John  the  Baptist  to  be  baptized  with  his  baptism.  "  And 
Jesus,  when  he  was  baptized,  went  up  straight  way- 
out  of  the  water,  and  lo,  the  heavens  were  opened  unto 
him,  and  he  saw  the  spirit  of  God  descending  like  a 
dove  and  lighting  upon  him.  And  lo,  a  voice  from 
heaven,  saying,  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  1 
am  well  pleased." 

By  whom  were  the  heavens  opened  unto  Jesus? 
and  from  whom  did  he  see  the  spirit  descending? 
Who  was  it  that  spoke  from  heaven,  "  Lo,  this  is  my 
beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased?"  Was  it 
Jesus  Christ  himself?  Was  he  the  very  God  who 
spoke  from  heaven  at  that  time?  and  did  he  declare 
himself  to  be  his  own  Son?  Can  it  be  that  there  are 
any  Christians  who  will  call  us  infidels  for  believing 
that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  the  very  God  who  spoke 
from  heaven  ;  Avhen  the  voice  said  of  this  same  Jesus, 
"  Lo,  this  is  my  beloved  Son?"  If  so,  then  so  it 
must  be.  For  we  must  still  believe  that  He  who  spoke 
from  heaven  was  not  Jesus  himself,  but  another  being, 
and  the  One  who  sent  Christ  into  the  world. 

If  any  ask  us,  Who  do  ye  say  that  Jesus  is  ?  we 
must  answer  with  Peter,  "  He  is  the  Christy  the  Son  of 
the  living  GocV  And  though  men  may  condemn  us, 
Jesus  himself  will  say,  "  Blessed  are  ye  ;  for  flesh  and 
blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  you,  but  my  Father 
who  is  in  heaven ; — and  upon  this  rock  will  I  build 


PERSON    OF    CHRIST.  183 

my  church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it." 

SECTION  II. 

A  more  particular  view  of  the  New  Testament  Teach- 
ings of  the  Person  of  Christ. 

In  the  preceding  section,  after  remarking  on  the 
importance  which  some  Christians  have  attached  to 
the  doctrine  of  Christ's  proper  Deity,  we  entered  into 
a  comparison  of  such  doctrine  with  its  own  parts,  and 
into  an  examination  of  the  Scriptures  which  testify  of 
him.  We  found  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  in  every 
form  in  which  its  advocates  have  stated  it,  to  be  both 
incongruous  in  itself,  and  utterly  inconsistent  with  the 
Divine  testimony. 

Taking  as  our  motto  the  divinely  commended  profes- 
sion of  Peter,  ''  Thou  art  the  Son  of  the  living  God," 
we  attended  chiefly  to  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures, 
to  the  prophecies  concerning  Christ."  But  we  came 
into  the  New  Testament  so  far  as  to  notice  the  proc- 
lamation of  Jesus'  birth,  and  the  history  of  his  bap- 
tism by  John,  when  "  the  heavens  were  opened  unto 
him,  and  he  saw  the  spirit  of  God  descending  like  a 
dove  and  lighting  upon  him ; — and,  lo,  a  voice  from 
heaven,  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased."  We  left  the  subject  by  remarking  that,  if 
there  are  any  who  will  call  us  infidels  for  not  believ- 
ing that  Jesus  was  the  very  God  who  spake  from 
heaven  at  that  time,  so  they  may  call  us ;  for  we  must 
still  believe  that  He  who  then  spoke  from  heaven  was 
not  Jesus  himself,  but  another  Being,  and  the  One  who 
sent  Jesus  into  the  world. 

As  we  read  on  in  the  New  Testament,  we  find  in 
every  chapter  more  or  less  evidence  that  Jesus  is  a 


184  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

being  distinct  from  God,  that  he  is  dependent  on  God, 
receiving  all  his  power  and  authority  from  him.  In  all 
his  instructions  to  the  people  he  spake  to  them  of  their 
Father  and  his  Father  in  heaven.  He  says,  "  My 
Father  is  greater  than  I."  "  I  am  not  come  of  myself; 
— for  he  [the  Father]  sent  me."  ''  For  I  came  down 
from  heaven,  not  to  do  mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of 
him  that  sent  me."  "  The  Son  can  do  nothing  of 
himself,  but  what  he  seeth  the  Father  do."  He  gave 
thanks  to  God,  and  prayed  to  him.  "At  that  time 
Jesus  answered  and  said,  I  thank  thee,  O  Father, 
Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  because  thou  hast  hid  these 
things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed 
them  unto  babes.  Even  so,  Father,  for  so  it  seemed 
good  in  thy  sight."  At  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  when 
he  performed  one  of  the  most  wonderful  of  his 
miracles^  he  thanked  God  that  he  had  heard  his 
prayer,  and  given  him  such  an  opportunity  to  prove 
to  the  people  the  divinity  of  his  mission.  "And 
Jesus  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  said.  Father,  I  thank 
thee  that  thou  hast  heard  me.  And  I  know  that 
thou  hearest  me  always  :  but  because  of  the  people 
that  stand  by  I  said  it,  that  they  may  believe  that 
thou  hast  sent  me." 

At  another  time,  when  he  had  sent  his  disciples 
on  board  of  a  ship,  and  dismissed  the  multitudes, 
"he  went  apart  into  a  mountain  to  pray;  and  when 
the  evening  was  come,  he  was  there  alone."  And 
when  he  was  in  the  agonies  of  death  on  the  cross, 
when  God,  as  it  appears,  suffered  his  mind  to  sink 
for  a  moment,  that  he  might  know  how  to  be  touched 
with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  "Jesus  cried  with 
a  loud  voice,  Eh,  Eli,  lama  sabachthani  7  that  is  to 
say,  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  7" 


PERSON    OF    CHRIST.  1S5 

What  an  affecting  scene  !  Go  and  visit  the  lovely 
child— 

"A  manger's  his  cradle,  a  stall  his  abode, 
The  oxen  are  near  him,  and  gaze  on  the  babe." 

See  him  when  he  has  gone  about  his  Father's  work. 
''He  is  despised  and  rejected  of  men ;  a  man  of  sor- 
rows and  acquainted  with  grief"  He  "hath  not 
where  to  lay  his  head."  But  in  all  his  works  he 
breathes  the  love  of  heaven.  See  him  weeping  with 
the  afflicted.  See  him  calling  poor  sinners  around 
him,  to  feed  them  with  the  words  of  everlasting  life. 
"The  blind  receive  their  sight,  and  the  lame  walk  ; 
the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the  deaf  hear ;  the  dead 
are  raised  up,  and  the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached 
imto  them."  He  is  the  Friend  of  man,  sent  of  God, 
to  be  the  Light,  the  Life,  and  the  Saviour  of  the 
v/orld. 

And  now,  lo,  he  is  seized  by  a  band  of  ruffians, 
dragged  to  a  mock  trial,  hastily  adjudged  to  a  shame- 
ful and  painful  death,  crowned  with  thorns;  those 
hands  which  had  ever  been  employed  in  works  of 
love  to  men,  and  those  feet  which  had  always  trodden 
the  paths  of  virtue,  are  pierced  with  the  cold  iron, 
and  nailed  fast  to  the  rugged  wood.  His  friends  all 
forsake  him ;  his  enemies  revile  him,  and  sport  with 
his  miseries ;  his  mind  begins  to  sink,  and  he  ex- 
claims, "My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
me?" 

On  the  ground  that  this  Jesus  was  a  created  being, 
dependent  on  God,  and  ordained  of  him  to  be  the 
Saviour  of  the  world,  all  this  view  which  we  have 
now  taken  of  him,  from  the  Scriptures,  appears  an 
affecting  reality.  But  to  suppose  that  he,  whom  we 
16* 


186  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

have  just  viewed  upon  the  cross,  and  heard  exclaim, 
''My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?'' 
was  the  very  self-existent  God  himself,  would  change 
the  whole  scene  into  a  farce.  For  to  represent  God 
as  crying  aloud  in  distress,  and  asking  why  he  had 
forsaken  himself,  is  to  represent  that  which  never  has 
heen,  nor  ever  can  be  a  reality.  And  further,  when 
Jesus  was  about  to  expire,  he  said,  "Father,  into  thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit." 

Indeed,  Jesus,  in  all  his  conversation  with  both 
friends  and  enemies,  never  once  professed  to  be  the 
self-existent  God,  nor  did  he  ever  drop  a  word  that 
appears  to  have  been  designed  to  intimate  such  an 
idea. 

It  is  recorded  in  the  10th  of  John,  that  Jesus  said  at 
a  certain  time  to  the  Jews,  "  I  and  my  Father  are 
one.  Then  the  Jews  took  up  stones  again  to  stone 
him.  Jesus  answered  them.  Many  good  works  have 
I  shown  you  from  my  Father ;  for  which  of  these 
works  do  ye  stone  me?  The  Jews  answered  him, 
saying.  For  a  good  work  we  stone  thee  not,  but  for 
blasphemy ;  and  because  thou,  being  man,  makest 
thyself  God."  Hence  it  appears  that  the  Jews, 
enemies  of  Jesus,  accused  him  with  making  himself 
God,  because  he  said,  "I  and  my  Father  are  one." 

But  we  will  not  leave  this  without  looking  further, 
to  see  whether  Jesus  made  any  answer,  and  what 
answer  he  made  to  this  accusation.  For  perhaps 
they  falsely  accused  him.  We  know  that  they  fre- 
quently misunderstood  him,  and  were  always  dis^ 
posed  to  put  the  most  unfavorable  construction  on 
what  he  said.  It  was  but  a  short  time  before  this 
that  they  charged  him  with  having  a  devil,  for 
saying,  "If  any  man  keep  my  saying,  he  shall  never 


PERSON    OF   CHRIST.  187 

see  death."  ''Now,"  said  the  Jews,  ''we  know  that 
thou  hast  a  devil.  Abraham  is  dead,  and  the  prophets ; 
and  thou  sayest,  if  a  man  keep  my  saying  he  shall  never 
taste  of  death."  Here  the  Jews  condemned  Jesus  for 
his  words  without  understanding  them.  They  sup- 
posed him  to  mean,  that  his  disciples  should  not  see 
natural  death.  Whereas  he  had  reference  to  the  death 
of  carnal-mindedness  and  unbelief,  which  a  man  never 
suffers  when  he  keeps  the  saying  of  Christ,  which  is 
spiritual  life. 

So  it  is  very  likely  they  falsely  accused  Jesus,  when 
they  charged  him  with  making  himself  God.  To  their 
settled  enmity  towards  Jesus,  add  their  jealousy  of 
impostors,  who  were  often  rising  up  in  the  nations 
around  them,  and  pretending  to  be  gods,  and  we  need 
not  wonder  that  they  fancied  they  saw  such  preten- 
sions in  Jesus,  when  there  was  no  ground  for  their 
suspicion. 

I  say,  impostors  were  often  rising  up  in  the  idola- 
trous nations  around,  pretending  to  be  gods  :  and  the 
people  were  duped  by  them,  so  that  in  their  worship 
they  would  deify  those  impostors,  and  adore  them  as 
the  true  Divinity.  When  Cains,  not  far  from  our 
Saviour's  time  on  earth,  attempted  to  force  the  Jews 
to  set  up  his  statue  in  their  temple,  and  to  do  as  his 
other  subjects,  who  received  him  as  they  received  the 
gods,  and  sware  by  his  name,  they  chose  to  die  rather 
than  to  do  this  thing.  For  their  Scriptures  taught 
them  to  worship  none  as  God  but  the  invisible  Jeho- 
vah. Though  they  looked  for  the  Messiah  of  whom 
the  prophets  spake,  yet  they  did  not  expect  him  to  be 
the  infinite  God,  but  the  Servant  of  God,  the  Elect  of 
God,  the  Saviour  of  Israel. 

Let  us  see  now  what  answer  Jesus,  the  Messiah  of 


188  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

whom  the  prophets  spake,  gave  to  the  Jews,  when 
they  charged  him  with  making  himself  God.  If  he 
really  meant  to  claim  supreme  Divinity,  he  would  of 
course  refer  them  to  some  Scripture,  if  there  were  any 
such,  which  would  clearly  show  that  the  predicted 
Messiah  was  to  be  the  very  invisible  God. 

His  answer,  however,  is  this ; — "  Is  it  not  written 
in  your  law,  I  said,  ye  are  gods  ?  If  he  called  them 
gods  mito  whom  the  word  of  God  came,  and  the 
Scriptures  cannot  be  broken,  say  ye  of  him  whom  the 
Father  hath  sanctified,  and  sent  into  tlie  world,  Thou 
blasphemest,  because  I  said,  I  am  the  Son  of  God  7" 

Here  Jesus  refers  his  accusers  to  the  portion  of  their 
Scriptures  which  we  quoted  in  the  preceding  section. 
Who  were  they  that  were  called  gods  7  They  were 
the  rulers  of  Israel.  Why  were  they  called  gods  ? 
Because  the  word  of  God  came  to  them ;  or  God,  in 
some  measure,  displayed  his  power  and  goodness  to 
the  people  through  their  instrumentality. 

What !  did  Christ  refer  his  opposers  to  a  case  where 
men  were  called  gods,  to  show  them  that  it  was  proper 
for  him  to  make  himself  the  essential  God  7  No  ;  for 
the  circumstance  that  men  were  called  gods  to  whom 
the  word  of  God  came,  could  have  no  bearing  upon 
the  question  of  Christ's  being  the  real  God.  But  he" 
referred  to  this  Scripture  to  show  his  opposers  that 
their  charging  him  with  blasphemy,  and  with  making 
himself  God,  was  rash,  and  unjust:  for  though  he 
professed  to  be  the  one  "  whom  the  Father  hath  sanc- 
tified and  sent  into  the  world,"  yet  he  had  never 
applied  to  himself  so  great  a  name  as  their  Scriptures 
applied  to  their  ancient  rulers.  For  they  were  called 
gods^  and  he  had  only  professed  to  be  the  Son  of  God. 

I  should  think   that   this  answer  of  Christ  to  the 


PERSON   OF    CHRIST.  189 

Jews  would  be  satisfactory  proof  to  any  candid  mind 
who  will  examine  it,  that  Jesus  meant  to  disclaim 
any  pretension  to  being  the  self-existent  God.  He 
saysj  to  be  sure,  that  he  and  his  Father  are  one.  And 
he  also  prays  to  his  Father,  that  all  believers  on  him 
may  be  one  in  them,  even  as  they  are  one.^  Not  that 
they  may  all  be  one  person,  nor  all  be  gods ;  but  that, 
as  the  Father  and  Son  are  one  in  spirit  and  purpose, 
so  in  this  sense  believers  may  all  be  one  in  them ; 
being  co-workers  together  with  the  spirit  of  grace  and 
truth. 

But  the  first  part  of  the  first  chapter  of  John's  gospel 
is  quoted  with  great  confidence,  as  proof  of  the  proper 
Deity  of  Christ.  "In  the  beginning  was  the  word,  and 
the  word  was  with  God,  and  the  word  was  God."  But 
even  this  passage  stands  rather  as  a  disinoof  of  such 
sentiment.  I  think  that  any  unprejudiced  mind,  on 
reading  this  passage,  must  be  struck  with  the  impres- 
sion that  the  Word  here  spoken  of  is  something  dis- 
tinct from  God,  as  it  is  said  to  be  with  God.  To  say 
of  the  self-existent  Deity,  that  he  was  in  the  beginning 
with  God^  would  be  a  senselel^s  expression. 

Christ  is,  by  a  metonymy  of  speech,  called  the 
Word  of  God,  because  the  word  or  counsel  of  God  is 
revealed  through  him.  This  counsel  was  with  God 
in  the  beginning  of  his  works,  and  is  now  manifested 
unto  us  through  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  sent  in  the 
flesh  to  dwell  among  men,  and  show  forth  the  word 
of  life  in  the  most  familiar  and  exemplary  manner. 

Hence  it  is  said  at  verse  14th,  "And  the  Word  was 
made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us."  And  it  is  by  the 
same  metonymy  of  speech  that  it  is  said,  "  And  the 
word  was  God,"  as  is  employed  in  the  saying  that 

n  John  xvii.  20,  21. 


190  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

''Christ  is  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of 
God."b  Christ  is  the  wisdom  of  God;  i.  e.  the  wis- 
dom of  God  is  wonderfully  displayed  through  him. 
Christ  is  the  power  of  God ;  i.  e.  the  Divine  power  is 
strikingly  manifested  in  him.  And  the  word  was 
God ;  i.  e.  the  word,  Christ,  was  a  manifestation  of 
God  himself,  in  the  fulness  of  his  moral  perfections. 
As  we  have  just  seen,  they  were  called  gods  to  whom 
the  word  of  God  came. 

But  the  3d  verse  has  likewise  been  brought  forward 
in  proof  of  Christ's  being  very  God.  "  All  things  were 
made  by  him,  and  without  him  was  not  anything 
made  that  was  made."  But  if  even  the  word  rendered 
made  in  this  place  signified  to  create^  it  would  not 
make  out  but  Christ  was,  as  many  hold,  a  subordinate 
being,  unto  whom  God  gave  creative  power.  The 
original  word,  however,  which  is  rendered  made^  in 
this  case,  and  which  occurs  fifty-three  times  in  this 
Gospel  of  John,  signifies  to  be,  to  come,  to  become,  to 
come  to  jyass :  also,  to  be  done  or  transacted;"  as  in 

b  1  Cor.  i.  24. 

c  See  note  to  London  Im.  VerSfon,  in  loco.  To  make  this  definition  of 
egeneto  obvious  to  the  common  reader,  I  will  here  refer  him  to  every  instance 
of  its  occurrence  in  St.  John's  Gospel.  Besides  the  third  verse  above  re- 
marked upon,  it  occurs  in  the  following  places  : — i.  6,  and  is  rendered  was ; 
"  There  teas  a  man  sent  from  God."  i.  10,  and  is  rendered  made;  "  He  was 
in  the  world,  and  the  world  tvas  made  by  him."  The  Improved  Version 
renders  it  enlightened;  and  Cappe  translates  it,  "  The  world  was  made  for 
him  ;"  understanding  by  the  world  the  Jewish  dispensation,  as  in  Gal.  iv.  3  ; 
Col.  ii.  8,  20.  Again,  i.  12,  it  is  rendered,  to  become ;  "  To  them  gave  he 
power  to  become  the  sons  of  God."  i.  14,  it  is  rendered  was  made;  "  The 
Word  ^cas  made  flesh  :"  i.  e.  it  was,  or  it  became  flesh,  i.  15,  it  is  rendered 
is;  "  He  IS  before  me."  i.  17,  came;  "But  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus 
Christ."  i.  28,  were  done;  "  These  things  were  done  in  Bethabara."  ii.  1, 
it  stands  for  was ;  "  There  was  a  marriage  in  Cana."  ii.  9,  it  is  was  again  ; 
"  And  knew  not  whence  it  was.'^  iii.  9,  be ;  "  How  can  these  things  6e?" 
iii.  25j  arose;  "  Then  there  arose  a  question."  iv.  14,  shall  be;  "  The  water 
that  I  shall  give  him  shall  be  in  him,"  &c.    v.  4,  was  made ;  "  Whosoever 


PERSON    OF    CHRI^.  191' 

chap.  XV.  7,  where  the  same  word  in  the  future 
tense  is  rendered  shall  he  done.  "If  ye  abide  in  me, 
and  I  in  you,  ye  shall  ask  what  you  will,  and  it  shall 
be  done  unto  you."  And  so  in  this  place,  the  sense 
appears  to  be,  that  "  All  thhigs  (i.  e.  all  things  in  the 
Christian  dispensation)  were  done  by  him,"  or  by  his 
authority.  Accordingly,  St.  Paul  said,  "I  can  do  all 
things  (meaning  all  things  appertaining  to  his  sphere 
of  action  in  the  gospel  ministry)  through  Christ  that 
strengthen eth  me." 

The  same  sentiment  which  John  expresses  in  the 
beginning  of  his  gospel,  he  brings  to  view  also  in  the 
commencement  of  his  first  epistle,  "That  which  was 
from  the  beginning,  which  we  have  heard,  which  we 
have  seen  with  our  eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon, 

then  first  stepped  in,  was  made  whole."  The  same  in  verses  6,  9, 14.  But  in 
verse  14,  it  occurs  a  second  time,  for  come,  or  happen;  "  Lest  a  worse  thing 
come  unto  thee."  vi.  16,  was  come;  "And  when  even  was  now  come.'' 
vi.  17,  teas;  "And  it  Vas  now  dark."  vi.  19,  i/jere ;"  And  they  tcere  afraid." 
vi.  21,  was  ;  "  And  immediately  the  ship  was  at  the  land."  vi.  25,  earnest ; 
"  Rabbi,  when  earnest  thou  hither  ?"  vii.  43,  was ;  "  So  there  was  a  division 
among  the  people."  viii.  33,  he  made,  i.  e.  become;  "  How  sayest  thou  then, 
Ye  shall  he  made  free?"  viii.  58,  teas;  "Before  Abraham  was."  ix.  22, 
should  he ;  "  He  should  he  put  out  of  the  synagogue."  ix.  27,  he ;  "  WUl  ye 
also  he  his  disciples?"  ix.  39,  he  made;  "Might  he  made  blind."  x.  16, 
he;  "  And  there  shall  he  one  fold."  x.  19,  was  ;  "  And  there  was  a  division." 
The  same  at  verse  22  ;  "  And  it  ^oas  at  Jerusalem."  In  xii.  29,  it  is  not  sep- 
arately translated,  but  stands  in  the  phrase  translated,  "  it  thundered,''  i.  e. 
it  did  thunder.  In  the  next,  the  30th  verse,  it  is  used  for  came ;  "  This  voice 
came  not  for  my  sake."  xii.  36,  he ;  "  That  ye  may  he  sons  of  hght."  xii.  42, 
it  is,  should  he.  xiii.  2,  heing;  "  Supper  being  ended."  At  verse  19th,  it 
is  twice  rendered  come  to  pass.  xiv.  22,  is;  "Lord,  how  is  it?"  xiv.  29, 
came  to  pass,  repeated,  xv.  7,  be  done;  "  It  shall  he  done  unto  thee."  In 
the  next  verse  it  is  rendered,  will  be.  xvi.  20,  shall  be ;  "  Your  sorrow  shall 
be  turned  into  joy."  xix.  36,  were  done  ;  "For  these  things  were  done.'' 
XX.  27,  he;  "  Be  not  faithless."  xxi.  4,  was  come;  "  But  when  the  morning 
was  now  come."  These  are  all  the  cases  of  the  use  of  riNOMAl,  or 
tYBvsTo,  in  St.  John's  Gospel.  And  the  reader  cannot  fail  to  see,  from 
the  evangelist's  use  of  the  word,  that  its  meaning  is  correctly  defined  above. 
The  same  is  its  general  usage.     It  bears  not  the  sense  of  create. 


192  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

and  our  hands  have  handled  of  the  word  of  Ufe  ;  (for 
the  life  was  manifested,  and  we  have  seen  it,  and  bear 
witness,  and  show  unto  you  that  aionioii  life,  which 
was  with  the  Father,  and  was  manifested  unto  us ;) 
that  which  we  have  seen  and  heard  declare  we  unto 
you." 

But  it  has  been  thought  by  some  that  the  miracles 
of  Christ  prove  him  to  be  God ;  for  he  did  those  works 
which  none  but  God  could  do. 

To  this  we  reply,  so  did  Moses  and  Elijah  do  works 
which  none  but  Divine  power  could  perform.  Yet 
none  ever  thought  of  arguing  from  this  that  they  were 
gods.  God  wrought  miracles  by  them.  So  of  Christ. 
Peter,  in  addressing  the  Jews  concerning  him,  said, 
"  Ye  men  of  Israel,  hear  these  words ;  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, a  man  approved  of  God  among  you,  by  miracles, 
and  wonders,  and  signs,  which  God  did  by  him  in 
the  midst  of  you,  as  ye  yourselves  also  know ;  Him 
being  delivered  by  the  determinate  counsel  and  fore- 
knowledge of  God,  ye  have  taken,  and  by  wicked 
hands  have  cruci-fied  and  slain. — This  Jesus  hath 
God  raised  up,  whereof  we  all  are  witnesses.  There- 
fore, being  by  the  right  hand  of  God  exalted,  and 
having  received  of  the  Father  the  promise  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  he  hath  shed  forth  this  which  ye  do  now 
see  and  hear.  Therefore,  let  all  the  house  of  Israel 
know  assuredly,  that  God  hath  made  that  same  Jesus, 
whom  ye  have  crucified,  both  Lord  and  Christ."^ 

From  this  we  discover  that  the  miracles  of  Christ 
were  wrought  indeed  by  the  power  of  God,  because 
God  imparted  of  his  Divine  power  to  him.  And  here 
also  the  truth  is  confirmed  of  what  we  have  before 
learned,  that  though  Jesus  is  to  be  honored  as  Lord 

d  Acts  ii.  22,  33—30. 


PERSON    OF   CHRIST.  193 

and  Christ,  it  is  because  the  Father  hath  made  him  to 
be  both  Lord  and  Christ. 

Another  circumstance  which  has  been  adduced  in 
proof  of  the  proper  Deity  of  Christ,  is  that  of  his  being 
a  proper  object  of  worship.  It  is  said,  "Thou  shalt 
worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou 
serve."  Now  as  the  Scriptures  allow  us  to  worship 
none  but  God,  if  it  can  be  shown  that  they  justify  the 
worship  of  Christ,  it  has  been  thought  to  prove  that 
he  is  God.  And  that  the  Scriptures  do  justify  the 
worship  of  Christ,  is  thought  to  be  proved  from  texts 
like  these;  Phil.  ii.  9,  10,  11;  "Wherefore  God  also 
hath  highly  exalted  him,  and  given  him  a  name  that 
is  above  every  name,  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every 
knee  should  bow, — and  that  every  tongue  should  con- 
fess that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the 
Father."  Rev.  v.  13;  "And  every  creature  which  is 
in  heaven,  and  on  the  earth,  and  under  the  earth,  and 
such  as  are  in  the  sea,  and  all  that  are  in  them,  heard 
I  saying,  Blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory,  and  power, 
be  unto  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  unto  the 
Lamb,  forever  and  ever." 

But  here,  though  it  is  proved  that  every  knee  shall 
bow  at  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  every  tongue  ascribe 
blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory,  and  power  to  God  and 
the  Lamb,  yet  this  does  not  show  that  the  Lamb  is  to 
be  worshipped  as  God.  It  only  shows  that  all  proper 
honor  is  to  be  given  him,  as  the  "  the  Lamb  of  God 
that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world  ;"  as  the  exalted 
"Prince  and  Saviour,"  the  "  Head  of  every  man." 

To  worship^  simply  signifies,  to  respect,  to  honor,  to 

reverence.     And  respect  is  to  be  shown  to  every  one 

who  fills  any  important  station  above  us,  according  to 

his  grade  and  merit.     "  It  is  written,  Thou  shalt  wor- 

17 


194  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

ship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou  served 
Does  this  mean  that  servants  shall  not  sei^ve  their  mas- 
ters, children  their  parents,  nor  suhjects  their  rulers  ? 
No.  It  simply  means  that  we  are  to  worship  and 
serve  the  Lord  only,  as  God.  Nor  are  we  to  serve 
otliers  in  any  sense,  whose  service  will  require  us  to 
transgress  the  law  of  God.  But  we  are  to  pay  proper 
respect  to  all  who  are  appointed  of  God  to  fill  neces- 
sary stations  above  us;  and  even  in  doing  this,  we 
are  honoring  and  serving  God,  because  he  requires  it 
of  us. 

So  when  we  ascribe  blessing  and  honor  to  the 
Lamb,  and  adore  Jesus  above  all  beings  in  the  uni- 
verse, (excepting  Him  only  who  hath  exalted  him,  and 
put  all  things  under  him,)  by  so  doing  we  honor  God. 
Because  it  was  for  this  purpose  that  God  exalted 
Jesus,  and  gave  him  a  name  which  is  above  every 
name  ; — it  was  that  men  should  honor  him,  that  every 
knee  should  bow  to  him.  Accordingly,  when  we  "  con- 
fess that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,"  it  is  "to  the  glory  of 
God  the  Father ;"  because  he  hath  raised  up  Jesus, 
"  and  made  him  both  Lord  and  Christ." 

There  are  some  other  arguments  which  are  brought 
up  to  prove  the  Deity  of  Christ,  which  we  do  not  deem 
it  important  to  consider  in  this  place.  But  after  all 
controversy  on  the  subject,  it  stands  a  solemn  truth, 
that,  "  There  is  one  God,  and  one  Mediator  between 
God  and  men,  the  man  Christ  Jesus ;  who  gave  him- 
self as  a  ransom  for  all,  to  be  testified  in  due  time."^ 

Does  any  one  ask  if  we  deny  the  divinity  of  Christ? 
I  answer.  No.  We  deny  no  divinity  which  the  Scrip- 
tures ascribe  to  him.  We  honor  him  as  a  divine  per- 
son, because  God  has,  to  an  extraordinary  degree, 

e  1  Tim.  5,  6. 


PERSON    OF    CHRIST.  195 

communicated  to  him  of  his  Divine  perfections.  We 
honor  him  as  the  Son  of  God,  in  a  sense  in  which  no 
other  being  in  the  universe  is  his  Son.  We  beheve  in 
him  as  the  one  who  possesses  a  power  from  God 
which  no  other  prophet  ever  possessed;  a  power  to 
look  into  time,  past  and  to  come,  not  hke  the  pro- 
phets, who  had  things  made  known  to  them  by  signs 
and  visions,  but  intuitively ;  that  he  could  see  intui- 
tively the  events  of  futurity,  and  that  he  can  see 
the  mind  of  the  whole  human  family,  and  know  their 
wants. 

When  Jesus  described  to  his  disciples  the  events 
that  were  to  come  in  the  end  of  that  age,  he  spake  not 
like  the  prophets,  who  only  repeated  what  God  had 
spoken  to  them  in  some  vision ;  but  he  spake  as  of 
things  which  he  saw,  as  an  eye-witness  would  see 
them  as  they  transpired.  Not  that  his  knowledge  is 
as  infinite  as  the  knowledge  of  God,  for  he  spoke  of  one 
event  the  time  of  which  he  did  not  know.  None  knew 
it  but  the  Father.  But  he  had  all  knowledge  given 
him  which  was  necessary  for  his  carrying  on  the  work 
of  his  great  and  important  mission.  And  Avhat  knowl- 
edge is  imparted  to  him,  is  like  the  knowledge  of  God, 
intuitive.  That  is,  he  can  see  things  which  have  been, 
which  are,  and  which  are  to  be,  immediately  by  the 
mind,  or  by  perception,  without  the  use  of  those  means 
through  which  others  must  gain  their  knowledge. 
Hence,  when  Jesus  was  beyond  Jordan,  he  saw  that 
Lazarus,  in  Bethany,  was  dead.  He  could  see  the 
thoughts  of  his  enemies ;  and  he  knew  that  his  disci- 
ples had  been  disputing,  when  they  were  on  their  way 
to  Capernaum.  It  is  truly  a  pleasing  reflection,  that 
while  we  have  a  High  Priest  above  who  knows  how 
to  be  touched  with  the  feelings  of  our  infirmities,  he 


196  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

also  sees  our  condition,  and  knows  what  our  infirmi- 
ties are ;  and  that  he  knows  how  to  apply  such  means, 
and  at  the  best  time  too,  as  shall  heal  our  infirmities. 

If  you  ask  whether  I  do  not  weaken  the  ground  of 
hope  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  wonderful  work  of 
love,  by  holding  Christ  to  be  a  dependent  being,  I  an- 
swer, no.  For  God,  on  whom  he  is  dependent,  has 
spoken  it,  and  it  shall  be  done.  Thus  saith  Jehovah, 
who  cannot  lie :  "  Behold  my  Servant  whom  I  uphold ; 
mine  Elect  in  whom  my  soul  delighteth.  *  ^  He 
shall  not  fail  nor  be  discouraged."^  "The  pleasure 
of  the  Lord  shall  prosper  in  his  hand ;  and  he  shall 
see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied.'"  °  '  The 
work  is  as  sure  to  be  accomplished,  then,  as  God  is 
true. 

Hence,  though  we  believe  in  Christ,  not  as  God,  but 
as  the  "Son  of  the  living  God,"  we  ascribe  to  him  a 
higher  character,  and  make  him  a  more  effectual  and 
extensive  Saviour,  than  most  of  those  who  call  him 
God.  Yes,  when  our  opponents  charge  us  with  dis- 
honoring Jesus,  let  it  be  told  them,  we  honor  him 
as  the  efficient  Saviour  of  the  world ;  but  ye  do  not. 
And  we  honor  Jesus  by  acknowledging  his  existence ; 
but  ye,  in  effect,  deny  his  existence.  And  can  it  be 
honoring  Jesus  to  deny  his  very  being? 

We,  while  we  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  Christ. 
But  ye  deny  the  existence  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  one 
Mediator  between  God  and  man ;  for  ye  say  there  is 
no  Christ  but  God.  Thus  you  would  take  away  the 
lovely  Jesus,  for  whose  birth  so  many  saints  and 
angels  have  sung  praise  to  God.  But  our  faith  de- 
lights to  cling  to  his  existence.     We  admire  the  Divine 

f  Isa,  xlii.  1  sisa.  liii.  11. 


PERSON    OF    CHRIST.  197 

plan  of  a  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  who,  under 
God,  shall  be  our  Head,  our  Leader,  forever. 

Finally,  brethren,  however  men  may  reproach  us 
for  it,  let  us  be  satisfied  to  believe  in  Christ  as  ''  the 
Son  of  the  living  God."  On  this  rock,  i.  e.  on  this 
faith,  Christ  declares  he  will  build  his  church,  and  the 
gates  of  hell  (hades,  the  grave)  shall  not  prevail 
against  it. 

Now  gates  are  places  of  entry.  By  the  gates  of 
hades,  the  grave,  Jesus  evidently  meant  those  tribula- 
tions and  persecutions  from  the  hands  of  wicked  men, 
which  were  as  gates  or  entries  into  the  grave.  These 
shall  not  prevail  against  that  faith  which  is  built  on 
Christ  as  the  Son  of  God. 

Now  in  this  country  there  are  not  these  same  causes 
to  annoy  us.  Still  there  are  gates  of  hades.  Sickness 
and  death  will  bring  us  to  the  grave.  But  shall  these 
prevail  against  our  faith  in  the  Son  of  God,  who  is 
our  Resurrection  and  our  Life, — and  by  whom  the 
Lord  God  hath  promised  to  destroy  death,  and  wipe 
away  tears  from  off  all  faces  ?  O,  may  our  faith  in  this 
mighty  Saviour  be  strong  and  unmoved,  and  so  our 
hope  in  immortality  shall  remain  bright  and  clear. 
How  exceedingly  precious  is  this  hope?  How  valu- 
able above  all  things  on  earth.  With  this  hope  we 
are  rich ;  without  it,  we  are  poor  indeed.  Christian, 
when  you  see  the  devastations  of  sickness  and  death 
among  your  friends  and  neighbors,  and  realize  that 
you  too  must  be  brought  to  death,  to  the  house  ap- 
pointed for  all  living, — for  what  would  you  exchange 
the  hope  that  Heaven's  immortal  spring  shall  come, 
death  be  swallowed  up  in  the  victory  of  life,  and 
tears  be  wiped  away  from  off  all  faces?  This  hope, 
17# 


198  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

this  priceless  hope  is  yours,  through  a  Uving  faith  in 
the  SON  OF  GOD. 

SECTION    III. 

Christ  the  Image  of  God ;  and  Exalted  i?i  his  Glory. 

So  rich  and  sublime  are  the  sentiments  involved  in 
the  person  and  character  of  Christ,  that  we  must  give 
to  the  subject  another  section  in  this  elementary  book. 
The  points  of  view  in  which  I  wish  further  to  present 
him  to  the  reader,  are  comprised  in  the  following 
language  of  St.  Paul,  (Heb.  i.  3:)  "  TTAo  being  the 
brightness  of  his  glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his 
person,  and  upholding  all  things  by  the  toord  of  his 
poiver,  iDhe?i  he  had  by  himself  purged  our  sins,  sat 
down  at  the  right  hayid  of  the  Majesty  on  high.^'' 

In  these  few  words  of  inspiration,  which  I  will  call 
the  text  of  this  section  of  my  work,  we  have  a  sum- 
mary of  what  constitutes  the  excellence,  the  trust- 
worthiness, the  loveliness  and  glory  of  the  blessed 
Saviour.  The  passage  relates  to  the  moral  character, 
the  priestly  office,  the  divine  authority,  the  glorious 
exaltation  and  final  triumph  of  the  Son  of  God. 

I.  The  first  view  which  is  here  given  us  of  Jesus 
Christ,  is  that  of  his  being  the  Brightness  of  the  Fa- 
t Iter's  glory,  and  the  express  Image  of  his  person. 

We  do  not  learn  hence  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
eternal  Father, — though  this  is  another  of  the  texts 
which  have  been  applied  to  such  a  sentiment.  And 
here  I  will  add  a  few  remarks  to  what  was  said  in  the 
beginning  of  this  chapter,  touching  the  importance  of 
this  controversy.  I  said  that  I  had  not  been  in  the 
habit  of  often  discussing  the  question  of  Trinity  and 
Unity,  because  I  had  not  attached  to  it,  or  to  the  con- 


CHRIST    THE   IMAGE   OF    GOD.  199 

troversy  upon  it,  so  much  importance  as  is  attached  to 
it  by  many.  It  is  important  in  its  place,  but  not  of 
capital  importance.  Some  have  placed  the  question 
of  Trinity  and  Unity  first  of  all,  and  reckoned  the 
moral  character  and  purposes  of  God  a  matter  of  minor 
importance.  They  can  discuss  from  week  to  week, 
and  from  year  to  year,  the  question  whether  God 
exists  in  one  person,  or  in  three  persons,  or  in  three 
natures,,  or  something  of  the  kind  united  in  one, — ^but 
if  you  invite  their  attention  to  the  question  of  the 
moral  character  of  God,  his  disposition  towards  his 
children,  and  the  design  and  final  results  of  his  gov- 
ernment over  them,  they  are  soon  impatient, — it  is  a 
matter  to  them  of  smaller  moment. 

But  to  my  mind  and  feelings  the  matter  of  greatest 
concern  is  the  grand  gospel  theme,  the  wisdom,  and 
love,  and  grace,  and  salvation  of  God.  If  I  believed 
that  the  creation  and  government  of  God  shall  result 
in  a  boundless  scene  of  wretchedness  to  his  moral 
creatures,  it  would  be  of  little  consolation  to  me  to  de- 
termine whether  there  were  three  persons,  or  one,  in 
the  Godhead  which  had  planned  and  prosecuted  the 
system  so  fraught  with  disaster  and  ruin.  It  would 
seem  an  occasion  of  regret  that  creation  was  ever 
begun,  and  man  called  from  nonentity, — equally  so 
whether  it  were  the  work  of  a  triune  God,  or  of  a 
single  undivided  person. 

Yet,  as  I  have  said,  the  question  of  Trinity  and 
Unity  is  important  in  its  place.  It  is  important  that 
men  should  have  clear  and  rational  conceptions  of  the 
unity,  as  well  as  wisdom  and  goodness,  of  the  Being 
they  worship.  And  the  habit  of  bowing  the  mind  to 
the  reception  of  absurdities  for  truth,  is  hurtful  to  the 


200  COMPEND   OP   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

mind,  as  to  its  activeness  in  the  discrimination  and 
enjoyment  of  truth. 

But  I  suppose  that  the  real  opinions  of  different 
Christians  on  this  subject,  are  nearer  ahke  than  their 
creeds  and  forms  of  profession.  It  has  been  my  behef, 
ever  since  I  have  thought  upon  this  subject,  that  all 
Christians  are,  in  reality,  unitarian  on  this  point  of 
doctrine.  I  do  not  mean  that  those  of  the  opposite 
sects  are  hypocritical  in  their  profession.  They  assent 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  not  pretending  to 
understand  how  it  can  be  so,  but  supposing  that  so  the 
Scriptures  teach,  and  that  so  it  must  be.  They  do 
not  mean  to  deceive,  but  they  are  themselves  con- 
fused. There  is  a  sentiment  in  their  souls  which  these 
contrary  professions  can  never  obliterate.  They  may 
assent  to  the  Catholic  profession  of  faith,  "  The  Fa- 
ther by  himself  is  God,  the  Son  by  himself  is  God,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  by  himself  is  God ; — yet  there  are  not 
three  Gods,  but  one  God ;" — they  may  assent  to  this,  I 
say,  supposing  it  must  be  so.  But  they  can  never 
take  into  their  understandings,  and  carry  in  their 
hearts,  so  absurd  a  proposition.  I  repeat  here,  I  would 
not  have  it  understood  that  we  are  never  to  believe 
what  is  mysterious.  There  may  be  a  proposition  that 
is  consistent,  and  established  by  abundant  evidence  as 
true,  which  we  may  understandingly  believe,  though 
we  do  not  comprehend  every  circumstance  about  it. 
We  cannot  comprehend  the  being  of  God.  But  the 
truth  that  there  is  a  God,  the  great  first  Cause,  of  infi- 
nite wisdom  and  power,  is  reasonable,  consistent,  and 
abundantly  evident.  But  to  say  there  are  three  distinct 
persons,  each  of  whom  is  by  himself  God,  and  yet  that 
there  are  not  three  Gods,  but  one  God,  is  stating  what 
is  not  so  much  of  a  mystery,  but  that  we  see  it  to  be 


CHRIST   THE   IMAGE    OF    GOD.  201 

absurd,  in  so  much  that  we  cannot  understandmgly 
and  practically  believe  it. 

Therefore  I  conclude,  as  I  said  before,  that  all  Chris- 
tians are  unitarian  in  their  practical  sentiments  and 
feelings  on  this  point  of  doctrine.  When  they  think 
of  God,  they  think  of  him  as  the  eternal,  self-existent, 
all-pervading  Spirit,  the  first  Cause,  the  sole  Creator, 
and  supreme  Governor  of  all  things.  When  they 
think  of  Jesus  Christ,  they  think  of  him  as  a  being 
having  an  existence  separate  from  God,  which  he  de- 
rived from  God  as  his  Son, — and  being  commissioned 
and  sent  from  God,  to  act  as  his  servant  in  the  prose- 
cution of  an  important  enterprise.  When  they  pray 
God  to  send  his  holy  spirit  into  their  hearts,  they  con- 
ceive of  this  divine  spirit  as  the  energy  of  God,  the 
spiritual  influence  upon  their  hearts  of  his  presence 
and  power.  And  the  rest  of  the  Trinity  is  in  name 
only,  in  subtle  disputation. 

But  there  is  an  interesting  sentiment  conveyed  in 
the  apostle's  saying,  that  Christ  is  the  bi'ightness  of 
the  Father'' s  glory ^  and  the  express  image  of  his  person. 
Or,  as  other  translators  have  rendered  it,  "he  is  a  ray 
of  his  brightness,  and  an  image  of  his  perfections."  A 
ray  of  his  brightness.  That  is,  Jesus  Christ  came 
unto  mankind  in  the  spirit,  the  disposition,  the  moral 
nature  of  God.  In  the  expressions  of  his  feelings  and 
affections  through  the  glow  of  his  heavenly  counte- 
nance, through  his  words  and  through  his  benevolent 
acts,  he  brings  to  our  sight,  and  to  our  feelings,  the 
moral  affections  of  God  towards  us,  as  the  ray  of 
light  from  the  sun  brings  to  our  vision  the  form  and 
glory  of  that  luminous  source  of  day. 

Did  Jesus  love  the  world  ?  Did  he  sympathize  with 
the  distressed  and  afflicted,  lead  sinners  home  to  virtue 


202  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

and  peace,  and  overcome  evil  with  good  7  Did  he  man- 
ifest a  deep  interest  for  the  well-being  of  mankind,  an 
interest  for  them  which  no  circumstance  of  theirs,  not 
even  their  hatred  to  him,  could  diminish, — and  which 
even  death  itself,  inflicted  by  them  without  a  cause, 
could  not  overcome?  By  dying  for  sinners,  giving 
himself  a  ransom  for  all,  tasting  death  for  every  man, 
did  he  thus  prove  the  infallibility  of  his  love,  that  it 
can  never  be  forced  to  break  its  hold,  that  it  is  stronger 
than  all  opposition,  and  will  never  cease  to  pursue  the 
good  of  mankind  7  In  all  these  amiable  moral  traits 
of  Jesus'  character,  we  see  the  moral  disposition  of 
God,  our  Creator.  Here  we  have  the  moral  image  of 
the  Divine  perfections,  a  ray  of  the  Divine  brightness. 
Think,  ye  ungrateful  and  sinful ; — think,  ye  unrecon- 
ciled and  doubtful, — that  He  who  made  the  world  and 
all  things  in  it,  who  upholds  and  governs  the  universe, 
at  whose  command  are  the  storms  and  tempests,  life 
and  death,  and  time  and  eternity, — He  is  your  friend. 
Look  into  the  life,  and  the  death, — into  the  kind  affec- 
tions of  Jesus,  into  that  love  of  his  which  never  faileth, 
and  you  see  the  image  of  God's  love  to  you.  Away 
with  your  doubts ;  away  with  your  ingratitude  and 
your  fears ;  your  Friend  is  almighty,  the  Almighty  is 
your  friend : — who,  then,  can  inflict  upon  you  ulti- 
mate harm?  Give  him  your  hearts,  and  be  at  peace. 
"We  pray  you,  in  Christ's  stead,  Be  ye  reconciled  to 
God." 

Again,  Jesus  Christ  is  the  image  of  God,  specially 
and  singularly  so,  in  another  important  sense.  "iiZe 
is  thej)oiDer  of  God  and  the  wisdom,  of  God."  ^  That 
is,  God  has  imparted  unto  him  of  his  own  wisdom 
and  power,  to  be  possessed  and  used  by  him,  not  only 

h  1  Cor.  i.  24. 


CHRIST    THE    IMAGE    OF    GOD.  203 

in  a  greater  degree,  but  in  a  different  manner,  from 
what  divine  wisdom  and  power  have  been  possessed 
and  used  by  any  other  created  being. 

This  view  of  Christ  as  the  Image  of  God,  is  the 
same  as  that  which  we  touched  upon  in  the  preceding 
section,  under  the  idea  of  his  So?ishlp.  We  showed 
that  he  was  the  Son  of  God  in  a  special  sense,  bearing 
pecuUar  resemblances  to  the  Father.  Under  this  head, 
Christ  the  Image  of  God,  we  will  pursue  those  pecu- 
liar and  interesting  resemblances  farther.  And  in  this 
enlargement  upon  the  subject,  I  Avill  repeat  nothing 
said  before,  only  insomuch  as  may  be  required  for  a 
good  understanding  of  the  whole. 

God,  at  sundry  times,  and  in  divers  manners,  spake 
unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets.  And  by  some  of 
them  he  wrought  miracles.  But  he  did  not  give  them 
to  possess  any  different  kind  of  faculties,  or  different 
kind  of  powers,  to  be  their  own,  than  was  possessed 
by  others.  When  Moses  communicated  to  the  people 
the  revelations  of  God  which  he  had  received,  it  did 
not  imply  any  superior  wisdom  or  higher  mental  fac- 
ulties of  his  own, — any  more  than  your  handing  to  one 
of  your  children  a  message  for  a  neighbor,  and  his 
^conveying  it,  implies  superior  wisdom,  or  different 
faculties  in  him,  from  the  rest  of  your  children.  God 
sent  his  angel,  and  communicated  verbally  to  Moses 
those  things  which  he  was  to  communicate  to  the  peo- 
ple; and  he  placed  upon  record,  and  preached  unto 
the  people,  those  things  which  God  spake  unto  him. 
And  the  prophets  were  taught  in  visions  the  things 
which  they  were  to  proclaim  to  the  people.  In  some 
instances  the  angel  of  God  in  the  vision  would  ex- 
plain to  them  the  meaning  of  the  message  which  they 
were  to  carry  to  the  people ;  but  generally  they  were 


204  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

left,  as  others,  to  exercise  their  own  natural  judgment 
upon  the  meaning  of  their  message.  They  went  unto 
the  people  with  a  ''  thus  saith  the  Lord,"  and  commu- 
nicated what  the  Lord,  speaking  unto  them  in  vision, 
had  instructed  them  to  say.  But  they  said  it  not  of 
any  superior  wisdom  of  their  own.  The  prophet 
Daniel  said  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  "  But  as  for  me,  this 
secret  is  not  revealed  to  me,  for  any  wisdom  that  I 
have  more  than  any  living.  *  ^  The  great  God  hath 
made  known  to  the  king  what  shall  come  to  pass  here- 
after." And  when  miracles  were  wrought  at  the  in- 
stance of  Moses,  it  was  not  by  the  direct  putting  forth 
of  power  by  Moses,  power  which  God  had  given  him 
to  be  by  him  exerted  at  his  pleasure.  In  these  cases 
God  accompanied  the  motions  of  Moses,  at  particular 
and  previously  specified  times  and  occasions,  with  the 
execution  of  these  Y\^onderful  works.  Moses  felt  no 
consciousness  that  he  possessed  a  power,  which  God 
had  given  him  to  be  used  at  pleasure,  to  work  mira- 
cles. He  had  to  obtain  several  signs  from  the  Lord,  in 
order  to  satisfy  himself  that  God  would  be  with  him 
to  sustain  him,  in  the  encounters  which  he  was  di- 
rected to  make  with  the  authorities  of  Egypt. 

But  Jesus  wrought  miracles  by  the  exercise  of 
power  which  he  possessed  as  his  own,  to  be  used  at 
pleasure.  When  I  say  that  he  possessed  this  power 
as  his  own,  I  do  not  mean  that  he  was  independent  of 
God.  He  everywhere  acknowledged  his  dependence 
upon  God,  as  the  source  whence  he  derived  all  the 
powers  he  possessed.  But  this  superhuman,  this 
divine  power  of  miracles,  God  gave  to  him  to  be  his, 
as  the  natural  powers  which  he  has  given  us  are  ours. 
When  we  go  about  our  ordinary  work,  though  we  are 
sensible  that  it  is  in  God  that  we  live,  and  move,  and 


CHRIST    THE    IMAGE    OF    GOD.  205 

have  our  being,  yet  we  expect  to  perform  our  work  by 
the  use  of  powers  which  God  has  given  us  as  a  part 
of  ourselves,  to  be  used  by  us  at  pleasure.  So  Jesus 
had  the  power  of  miracles.  It  was  his  own  by  the 
gift  of  God,  to  be  used  whenever  he  should  choose  to 
use  it,  in  the  purposes  of  his  gospel  mission.  He  was 
not  to  use  it  for  other  purposes.  When  he  Avas 
tempted  to  turn  stones  into  bread  to  satisfy  his  own 
hunger,  he  refused  to  do  it,  because  it  would  not  be 
consistent  with  the  design  for  which  he  possessed  this 
divine  ability.  For  his  own  subsistence  he  was  to  be 
an  example  for  others,  relying  on  the  ordinary  provi- 
dence of  God.  His  divine  power  was  not  to  be  used 
for  purposes  of  his  own  temporal  advantage.  But  in 
the  work  of  his  mission  he  had  it  for  use  whenever  he 
wanted  to  employ  it.  This  sentiment  is  expressed  in 
the  word  which  John  testified  of  Jesus,  saying,  (John 
iii.  34,)  "For  God  giveth  not  the  spirit  by  measure 
unto  him."  That  is,  as  Farmer  justly  remark^,  God 
gave  him  the  spirit  of  power  for  universal  and  per- 
petual use,  and  not  for  a  limited  time  and  season. 

And  so  with  regard  to  the  wisdom  of  Christ,  his 
knowledge  of  truth,  and  of  things  past,  present,  and 
to  come,  so  far  as  it  was  requisite  for  the  purposes  of 
his  high  commission ; — this  knowledge  he  possessed 
as  a  part  of  his  own  understanding.  He  knew  the 
minds  and  thoughts  of  others.  When  his  disciples 
had  been  disputing  on  the  way  to  Capernaum,  who 
should  be  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  he, 
though  distant  from  them,  knew  their  conversation. 
When  he  was  at  a  distance  beyond  Jordan,  he  knew 
the  time  when  Lazarus,  of  Bethany,  expired.  He 
had  a  mental  discernment,  unlike  that  of  any  other 
prophet,  by  which  he  could  see  these  things.  And 
18 


206  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

when  he  foretold  things  that  should  come  to  pass  in 
the  future,  he  described  them,  not  as  the  prophets  who 
related  visions,  but  as  perceiving  them  with  his  mind ; 
as  looking  into  futurity  by  an  intuitive  discernment. 
As  far  as  God  saw  fit  to  give  him  knowledge,  it  was 
knowledge  like  his  own,  a  direct  and  immediate  dis- 
cernment of  things  that  were,  and  were  to  be. 

Now  in  these  respects,  in  respect  to  the  kind,  degree, 
and  manner,  of  the  power  and  wisdom  of  Christ,  as 
well  as  in  his  moral  character,  he  is  in  a  special  sense, 
in  a  sense  unknown  in  any  other  man,  the  express 
image  of  God. 

The  same  view  applies  to  Jesus  in  his  capacity  as 
the  Life  of  the  world.  He  says  of  himself,  (John  v. 
26,)  "  For  as  the  Father  hath  life  in  himself,  so  hath 
he  given  to  the  Son  to  have  life  in  himself"  He 
has  in  himself  the  power  of  life,  the  power  to  commu- 
nicate life.  He  communicates  moral  life  to  the  soul ; 
and  the  energies  of  his  life,  which  roused  the  sleeping 
Lazarus  from  death,  shall  make  the  dead  to  live,  until 
in  him  shall  all  be  made  alive. 

2.  The  second  capacity  in  which  Christ  is  pre- 
sented in  the  text,  is  that  of  his  ruling  authority, 
expressed  by  the  words,  "  Upholding  all  things  by 
theioordof  his  poioer.^''  Some  render  it  ^''governing 
all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power."  The  phrase 
all  things  is  variously  limited  to  different  classes  of 
things,  according  to  the  different  subjects  to  which  it  is 
applied.  When  Paul  says  to  the  Corinthians,  "  Let  all 
things  be  done  to  edifying,"  he  means  all  the  services 
of  public  worship.  When  he  says,  "I  can  do  all 
things  through  Christ  that  strengtheneth  me,"  he 
means  all  things  appertaining  to  the  apostolic  office. 
And  here,  Christ's  upholding  or  governing  all  things 


CHRIST    THE    IMAGE    OF    GOD.  207 

by  the  word  of  his  power,  is  his  controlUng  and  direct- 
ing all  incidents  and  concerns  which  appertain  to  the 
work  of  his  mission,  as  the  Messiah,  the  Saviour  and 
moral  Ruler  of  the  world. 

The  sentiment  is  similar  in  the  words  preceding  the 
text,  "  God  hath  in  these  last  days  spoken  unto  us  by 
his  Son,  whom  he  hath  appointed  heir  of  all  things ; 
by  whom  also  he  hath  made  the  worlds."  The 
word  here  rendered  ivorlds  is  not  kosmos,  which  is 
used  for  the  material  world,  and  never  occurs  in  the 
Scriptures  in  the  plural  number;  but  it  is  aionos,  the 
ages.  God  has  given  to  Christ  dominion,  and  glory, 
and  a  kingdom,  that  all  nations,  and  kindreds  and 
languages  should  serve  him ;  and  he  has  for  him  con- 
stituted the  ages  or  periodical  dispensations,  which  are 
requisite  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  purpose.  And 
all  things  appertaining  to  this  divinely  glorious  work, 
does  Christ  sustain  and  govern  by  the  word  of  his 
power. 

3.  The  third  particular  in  the  text  concerning 
Jesus  is,  that  ''  he  by  himself  purged  our  sins."  I  shall 
not  have  space  to  dwell  on  this  particular  at  present, 
farther  than  to  remark,  that  it  conveys  allusion  to  the 
blood  of  sprinkling  under  the  law,  which,  in  a  legal 
point  of  view,  sanctified  to  the  purifying  of  the  flesh. 
But  the  blood  of  Christ  is  represented  as  cleansing 
from  sin.  That  is,  the  love  of  Christ,  the  cause  of 
Christ,  which  was  sealed  and  attested  by  his  blood, 
cleanses  from  sin.  Hence  the  apostle  here  speaks  of 
his  purging  our  sins  when  he  spilt  his  blood  for  us  on 
the  cross,  because  he  then  sealed  and  confirmed  that 
covenant  of  love,  that  system  of  grace,  which  shall 
"  take  away  the  sin  of  the  world." 

4.  In  the  fourth  place  our  text  describes  the  final 


208  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

exaltation  of  Christ,  by  his  sitting  down  on  the  right 
hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high."  "Who  being  the 
brightness  of  his  glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his 
person,  and  upholding  (or  governing)  all  things  by 
the  word  of  his  power,  when  he  had  by  himself 
purged  our  sins,  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
Majesty  on  high." 

This  describes  the  divine  authority  and  power  in 
which  God  has  set  his  Son,  whom  he  "has  raised 
from  the  dead,  and  made  to  be  both  Lord  and  Christ." 
In  this  authority  he  must  reign,  until  all  are  subdaed 
unto  him,  united  to  him  in  love.'  And  then,  though 
he  will  be  subject  to  him,  who  put  all  things  under 
him,  yet  he  will  ever  be,  as  he  is  constituted  of  God, 
the  Head  of  every  man,  the  Medium  of  communication 
between  us  and  the  Father,  the  local  and  visible  per- 
sonification of  God  unto  us. 

It  is  precious,  it  is  interesting  to  the  soul,  to  con- 
template Jesus  in  this  high  and  exalted  capacity; 
related  to  us  as  a  brother,  and  thus  coming  nigh  unto 
us  in  familiar  intercourse, — and  related  to  God  also 
in  a  higher  sense  than  we,  being  the  brightness  of  his 
glory,  and  image  of  his  person.  We  may  expect  to 
be  able,  in  our  immortal,  spiritual  existence,  to  per- 
ceive the  Divine  Being,  and  feel  his  presence,  more 
clearly  and  sensibly  than  we  do  here;  yet  he  is  an 
all-pervading  Spirit,  filling  immensity ;  and  his  Christ 
will  be  unto  us  his  visible  habitation,  his  mouth  of 
communication  forever. 

The  sun  is  a  vast  body,  a  million  times  larger  than 
the  earth,  and  ninety-six  millions  of  miles  from  us. 
Yet  there  is  a  medium  through  which  the  rays  of  light 
from  all  parts  of  that  great  body  are  converged  into 

>  1  Cor.  XV.  24—28. 


CHRIST    THE    IMAGE    OF    GOD.  209 

the  narrow  pupil  of  our  eye,  and  we  perceive  its  whole 
magnitude  and  its  glories.  So  has  God  constituted 
Jesus  the  wonderful  medium  of  his  own  light  and 
glory, — so  that  we  shall  see,  and  know,  and  enjoy  tlie 
Father  in  him,  insomuch  that  there  will  seem,  to  use 
the  language  of  our  apostle,  "to  dwell  in  him  all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily." 

If  there  are  other  planetary  worlds  of  intelligent 
beings,  we  may  reason  from  analogy  that  the  one  God 
and  Father  of  all,  has  constituted  for  them,  each  race 
or  world  of  them,  a  Head,  to  be  the  medium  of  his 
presence  and  his  communion  with  them,  as  he  has  con- 
stituted Christ  for  us.  But  this  is  not  a  matter  of  rev- 
elation. God's  revelation  to  us  relates  to  the  interests 
of  our  own  mortal,  yet  purposed  to  be  immortal  race. 

In  the  light  and  spirit  of  this  revelation  we  will  live 
and  rejoice.  In  our  conscious  weakness,  we  love  to 
remember  "  that  we  have  a  High  Priest  above,"  who 
"knows  what  is  in  man,"  and  "who  knows  how  to 
be  touched  with  the  feelings  of  our  infirmities;" — that 
we  have  a  Prince  and  Saviour  in  so  high  exaltation, 
who  sees  and  knows  the  wants  of  our  souls, — and 
who  will  ever  be  unto  us,  in  wisdom,  power  and  love, 
a  Ray  of  the  Father's  brightness,  and  the  Image  of  his 
perfections. 

18* 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE    MISSION    OF    CHRIST. 
SECTION   I. 

Erroneous  Views  Examined. — Christ  suffered  not  In^ 
finite  Wrath  as  a  Substitute  for  Man. 

I.  Before  the  introduction  of  the  Messiah  into  the 
world,  it  was  appointed  that  his  name  should  be  called 
Jesus,  which  is,  being  interpreted,  Saviour.  This 
name  was  given  him  to  denote  the  object  of  his  mis- 
sion, the  purpose  of  his  coming,  which  is  to  redeem 
and  save  makind.  To  save  them  from  what  7  This 
is  an  important  inquiry,  and  the  consideration  of  it  is 
rendered  doubly  important,  if  possible,  on  account  of 
the  misunderstanding  of  it  which  has  obtained,  and 
has  dishonored  the  gospel. 

It  is  the  common  sentiment  on  this  question,  that 
the  grand  object  of  Jesus'  mission  is  to  save  mankind 
from  suffering  a  penalty  or  punishment  which  they 
have  incurred  by  breaking  the  law  of  God.  This 
penalty  is  said  to  be  endless  death  or  misery.  It  has 
been  customary  for  pious  clergymen  to  assert  that 
they  themselves  deserve  endless  misery  for  their  very 
best  performances.  Accordingly,  if  they  should  re- 
ceive that  punishment  which  strict  justice  requires, 
eternal  woe  must  be  their  doom. 

The  following  is  the  sentiment  of  Dr.  Watts  on  the 
penalty  of  the  broken  law : — 

"  Far  in  the  deep,  where  darkness  dwells, 
The  land  of  horror  and  despair, 


THE    MISSION    OF    CHRIST.  211 

Justice  has  built  a  dismal  hell, 
And  laid  her  stores  of  vengeance  there. 

"  Eternal  plagues  and  heavy  chains, 
Tormenting  racks  and  fiery  coals, 
And  darts  t'  inflict  immortal  pains, 
Dipped  in  the  blood  of  damned  souls." 

In  speaking  of  the  execution  of  this  penalty,  the 
same  learned  divine  uses  the  following  language : — 

"  His  nostrils  breathe  out  fiery  streams, 
And  from  his  awful  tongue, 
A  sovereign  voice  divides  the  flame, 
And  thunders  roll  along. 

"  Tempests  of  angry  fire  shall  roll 
To  blast  the  rebel  worm, 
And  beat  upon  his  naked  soul 
In  an  eternal  storm." 

The  assembly  of  Westminster  divines  have  declared 
the  punishment  which  mankind  incur  by  sin  to  be 
^'AU  the  pains  and  miseries  of  this  life,  death  itself, 
and  the  pains  of  hell  forever." 

But  it  is  not  the  pains  and  miseries  of  this  life,  and 
death  itself,  which  Jesus  came  to  save  men  from  suf- 
fering, but  the  pains  of  hell  forever  ;  or  as  Watts  calls 
it,  immortal  pai7is^  an  eternal  storm,  of  angry  fire  heat- 
ing upon  the  naked  sonl.  This  is  the  punishment 
which  Jesus  undertook  to  save  men  from  suffering. 
How  does  he  save  them  from  it?  By  keeping  them 
from  deserving  it,  or  from  exposing  themselves  to  if? 
No ;  for  they  have  deserved  it  already,  and  justice  re- 
quires that  they  shall  suffer  it.  So  the  work  of  Jesus 
is  to  save  men  from  a  punishment  which  they  all  justly 
deserve. 

How,  or  by  what  means,  is  this  to  be  effected? 
Answer.  By  Christ's  suffering  this  punishment  as 
man's  vicar  or  substitute.     This  is  the  only  ground  on 


212  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

which  those  who  are  commonly  called  orthodox  pro- 
fess to  hope.  The  law  is  just  and  good,  and  it  must 
be  magnified  and  made  honorable.  But  since  man  has 
broken  and  dishonored  the  law,  in  order  that  it  may 
triumph  over  this  dishonor  which  man  has  cast  upon 
itj  its  dreadful  sanction  must  be  suffered ;  and  it  must 
be  suifered  by  man,  the  transgressor,  unless  some  sub- 
stitute suffer  it  in  his  stead.  Accordingly,  they  cannot 
hope  to  escape  from  suffering  the  whole  penalty  of  the 
law,  only  on  the  ground  that  Christ  has  suffered  it  in 
their  stead.  On  the  ground  that  Christ  has  suffered  what 
in  their  stead  7  Not  the  pains  and  miseries  of  this  life, 
and  death  itself;  for  these  they  expect  to  suffer  them- 
selves. And  besides,  these  compose  no  part  of  the  real 
penalty  of  the  law.  Or,  at  most,  they  are  only  a  kind 
of  foretaste  of  it,  or  a  few  trifling  sparks  of  that  fire, 
the  full  and  infinite  blaze  of  which  is  reserved  for  the 
future  state.  No ;  according  to  the  sentiment  we  are 
now  considering,  it  is  not  "the  pains  and  miseries  of 
this  life,  and  death  itself,"  but  "  the  pains  of  hell  for- 
ever," ^Hmmortal  pains j''^  that  Christ  must  suffer,  in 
order  to  afford  us  any  ground  to  hope  for  salvation. 
Tempests  of  angry  fire  must  beat  upon  his  naked  soitl, 
in  an  eternal  storm ! !  Shocking  thought !  Is  such  the 
fate  of  him  of  whom  the  angel  said,  "  Thou  shalt  call 
his  name  Jesus?"  Can  the  Saviour  of  men  never  see 
peace  7  Must  he  forever  dwell  "  far  in  the  deep  where 
darkness  reigns,"  there  to  suffer  "immortal  pains?" 

If  these  be  the  "  storms  of  vengeance"  which  justice 
has  laid  up  for  sinners,  and  Christ  suffer  as  their  sub- 
stitute, such  must  truly  be  his  suffering.  But  the 
subject  has  become  too  painful.  The  thought  strikes 
us  with  a  cold  chill  of  horror.  It  appears  there  must 
be  something  wrong  in  tlie  doctrine  before  us.     At  any 


THE    MISSION    OF    CHRIST.  213 

rate,  it  fills  us  with  painful  anxiety,  and  we  fly  to 
the  testimony  for  relief 

Is  there  anything  in  the  testimony  to  prove  that 
Jesus  is  suffering  immortal  pains  ?  No,  there  certainly 
is  not.  Nor  is  there  the  least  proof  that  Jesus  has  suf- 
fered, or  ever  will  suffer,  aii]/  pains,  beyond  ''  the  pains 
and  miseries  of  this  life,  and  death  itself" 

But  we  are  not  left  merely  to  argue  that  there  is  no 
proof  that  Christ  suffers  immortal  pains  in  a  land  of 
darkness  and  despair ;  for  there  is  positive  evidence  on 
the  other  side,  that  it  is  not  so.  There  is  proof  that 
Jesus  has  ascended  to  heaven,  and  is  seated  in  glory 
at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God. 

Where,  then,  is  our  hope  ?  If  we  can  hope  for  sal- 
vation only  on  the  ground  that  Jesus  suffers  a  punish- 
ment of  "immortal  pains"  in  our  stead,  Avhere  then  is 
our  hope?  It  has  vanished;  ''and,  like  the  baseless 
fabric  of  a  vision,  leaves  not  a  wreck  behind." 

But  here  it  has  been  argued  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
very  God.  And  the  infinite  God  could  endure  as  great 
a  quantity  of  misery  in  a  short  time  as  the  whole  world 
could  suffer  to  all  eternity.  So  on  this  ground  man 
may  be  cleared  from  the  fore-mentioned  punishment, 
because  God  himself,  when  he  died  on  the  cross,  suf- 
fered as  much  in  quantity,  though  short  in  duration. 

Is  this,  then,  the  foundation  of  the  Christian  hope  ? 
the  idea  that  the  eternal  Jehovah,  the  Creator  and 
Governor  of  the  immense  universe,  he  whom  the  hea- 
ven of  heavens  cannot  contain,  in  whom  we  live,  move, 
and  have  our  being,  was  actually  nailed  to  a  tree  by 
the  hands  of  men,  and  there  suffered  and  died  !  The 
thought  is  shocking ;  it  is  even  blasphemous.  It  is  repug- 
nant to  reason,  and  no  less  repugnant  to  divine  reve- 
lation. 


214  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

No ;  it  is  replied,  Christ  did  not  suffer  as  God  ;  but 
it  was  only  as  man  that  he  suffered.  Though  Christ 
is  God  and  man,  mysteriously  united,  yet  it  was  not 
the  infinite,  but  the  finite,  the  human  part,  that  suf- 
fered and  died.  Now  the  pretended  ground  of  hope 
has  again  vanished.  Forasmuch  as  it  is  and  7nust  be 
admitted,  that  it  was  only  as  man  that  Christ  suf- 
fered and  died,  this  last  attempt  to  make  his  sufferings 
amount  to  as  much  as  the  endless  misery  of  the  whole 
human  family,  is  mere  nothing.  The  fact  is,  if  we 
have  no  hope  for  salvation,  only  on  the  position  that 
Christ  has  suffered,  or  is  to  suffer,  immortal  pains  in 
our  stead,  we  have  no  ground  to  hope  all.  We  may 
sit  down  in  darkness  and  utter  despair. 

Again,  this  system  of  the  vicarious  sufferings  of 
Christ  is  a  reflection  on  the  character  of  God,  and  de- 
tracts too  much  from  the  excellency  and  glory  of  his 
plan  of  salvation.  For  it  supposes  that  he  saves  us 
from  deserved  punishment,  by  punishing  an  innocent 
person  in  our  stead.  And  this  is  directly  against  the 
law  of  God,  as  well  as  against  all  human  ideas  of  jus- 
tice. Suppose  a  criminal,  under  sentence  of  death,  is 
committed  to  the  disposal  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  The  President  wishes  to  spare  the  guilty  per- 
son, but  cannot  feel  satisfied  to  spare  him,  unless  he 
puts  the  full  amount  of  punishment  on  somebody  else. 
So  he  turns  and  executes  an  innocent  person  and  clears 
the  guilty.  The  very  report  of  such  a  procedure  would 
strike  the  citizens  of  these  United  States  with  horror. 
To  say  that  the  innocent  person  oftered  himself  as  a 
substitute,  would  not  justify  the  acceptance  of  such  an 
offer  by  the  civil  magistrate.  It  would  still  be  directly 
against  the  spirit  of  our  wholesome  laws.  And  these 
human  laws,  which  forbid  the  innocent  being  punished 


THE   MISSION    OF    CHRIST.  215 

instead  of  the   guilty,   are  founded  on   the  law   of 
God. 

It  seems  to  us  a  censurable  species  of  irreverence,  to 
hold  up  that  system  for  the  gospel  purpose  of  God, 
which  represents  the  Divine  Lawgiver  as  violatino- 
the  principles  of  his  own  law.  For  he  has  expressly 
declared  that  one  shall  not  be  punished  for  another's 
sins,  but  every  man  shall  die  for  his  own  sins.  ''  The 
soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die."  And  Jesus  said  to  the 
Pharisees,  ''If  ye  had  known  what  this  meaneth,  I 
will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice,  ye  would  not  have 
condemned  the  guiltless."  Yet  the  systems  of  men 
represent  the  infinitely  just,  wise  and  merciful  Father 
of  us  all,  as  practising  on  this  principle  which  the 
Scriptures  condemn,  punishing  the  innocent  in  order 
to  clear  the  guilty. 

II.  Before  we  spend  longer  time  in  examining  the 
schemes  which  men  have  devised  for  saving  them- 
selves from  suifering  an  incurred  penalty  of  endless 
punishment,  it  may  be  well  to  search  the  Book  of  the 
Law,  to  see  if  there  be  any  such  penalty  there.  The 
first  pair  had  a  law  given  them,  and  death  was  threat- 
ened as  the  punishment  of  disobedience.  But  this 
death  was  comprised  in  the  miseries  which  were  to  be 
endured  in  this  life.  This  we  learn  from  the  judg- 
ment which  was  given  upon  the  first  case  of  trans- 
gression. When  the  man  and  woman  transgressed, 
they  were  called  to  trial,  convicted  of  sin,  and  sen- 
tenced according  to  the  laAV  which  was  given  them. 
What  was  the  sentence  ?  The  Judge,  when  he  pro- 
nounced the  sentence,  told  them  that  because  they  had 
transgressed,  they  should  suffer  certain  miseries  till 
they  should  return  to  the  dust. 

The   second   trial  which  is  recorded,  was  upon  a 


216  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

very  noted  offence,  Cain's  murder  of  his  innocent  bro- 
ther. The  Judge,  who  is  the  great  Creator  and  Law- 
giver himself,  delivered  the  sentence  thus.  "The 
voice  of  thy  brother's  blood  crieth  mito  me  from  the 
ground.  And  now  art  thou  cursed  from  the  earth, 
which  hath  opened  her  mouth  to  receive  thy  brother's 
blood  from  thy  hand.  When  thou  tillest  the  ground 
it  shall  not  henceforth  yield  unto  thee  her  strength ;  a 
fugitive  and  a  vagabond  shalt  thou  be  in  the  earth." 
These  matters  were  duly  considered  in  chapters  lY. 
and  V. 

We  have  also  examined  the  law  given  by  Moses. 
There  we  find  some  threatenings  of  very  severe  punish- 
ment, but  nothing  like  that  from  which  it  has  been  im- 
agined that  Jesus  came  to  save  mankind.  The  most 
severe  threatenings  Avhich  we  find  in  all  the  law  of  Moses, 
are  recorded  in  the  26th  of  Leviticus.  There  greater 
and  greater  punishments  are  threatened  in  case  of  con- 
tinued transgression,  till  it  comes  to  this.  "And  if 
ye  will  not  for  all  this  hearken  unto  me,  but  walk 
contrary  unto  me,  Then  I  will  walk  contrary  unto  you 
also  in  fury ;  and  I,  even  I,  will  chastise  you  seven 
times  for  your  sins.  And  ye  shall  eat  the  flesh  of 
your  sons,  and  the  flesh  of  your  daughters  shall  ye 
eat.  And  I  will  make  your  cities  waste,  and  bring 
your  sanctuaries  unto  desolation.  *  *  And  I  will 
scatter  you  among  the  heathen,  and  will  draw  out  a 
sword  after  you  ;  and  your  land  shall  be  desolate,  and 
your  cities  waste.  ^  *  And  upon  them  that  are  left 
alive  of  you,  I  will  send  a  faintness  into  their  hearts 
in  the  lands  of  their  enemies;  and  ye  shall  perish 
among  the  heathen,  and  the  land  of  your  enemies 
shall  eat  you  up." 

Though  there  were  proportional  punishments  to  be 
inflicted  upon  all  sins,  yet  this  dreadful  penalty  which. 


THE    MISSION    OF    CHRIST.  217 

we  have  now  read,  was  not  to  be  incurred  by  any  or 
the  least  offence.  They  were  not  told  that  they  had 
already  deserved  it,  and  the  Messiah  was  appointed 
to  screen  them  from  it.  It  would  only  be  incurred  by 
the  continued  practice  of  iniquity,  after  a  long  series 
of  lesser  chastisements  had  proved  ineffectual  to  re- 
claim them. 

But  how  is  it  with  regard  to  these  reasonable  and 
just  punishments  which  the  law  does  denounce  upon 
sinners?  Did  the  "just"  Saviour  suffer  for  the  "  un- 
just," to  save  them  from  those  punishments  when  they 
have  been  incurred?  No,  we  have  not  yet  found 
the  least  intimation  in  the  Scriptures,  that  after  men 
have  continued  their  transgressions  to  the  degree  upon 
which  certain  punishment  has  been  threatened,  they 
shall  then  be  saved  from  the  deserved  and  threatened 
punishment. 

The  children  of  Israel  continued  to  transgress  till 
they  incurred  the  foregoing  penalty,  and  then  they 
suffered  it.  These  threatenings,  pronounced  nearly 
2000  years  before,  were  then  fully  executed.  And 
though  Jesus  had  then  been  on  the  earth,  we  do  not 
find  that  it  was  any  part  of  his  labors  to  devise  a 
scheme  to  save  this  people  from  said  punishment  when 
they  had  incurred  it. 

To  be  sure  Jesus  called  on  this  people  to  repent,  and 
turn  from  their  iniquities,  that  they  might  avoid  that 
dreadful  judgment.  But  this  was  not  calling  on  them 
to  escape  that  judgment  after  they  should  have  fully 
deserved  it,  but  it  was  calling  on  them  to  avoid  incur- 
ring it.  They  had  not  then  filled  up  that  measure  of 
iniquity  upon  which  such  punishment  was  predicated. 

But  when  Jesus  had  called  upon  them  to  no  effect, 
seeing  their  hardness  of  heart  and  blindness  of  mind, 
19 


218  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

and  knowing  also  what  their  prophets  had  long  foretold, 
he  said  unto  them,  "  Fill  ye  up  therefore  the  measure 
of  your  fathers  ;  *  *  that  upon  you  may  come  all  the 
righteous  blood  shed  upon  the  earth,  from  the  blood 
of  righteous  Abel  to  the  blood  of  Zacharias,  son  of 
Barachias,  whom  ye  slew  between  the  temple  and  the 
altar.  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  all  these  things  shall 
come  upon  this  generation." 

From  this  it  appears  their  measure  of  iniquity  was 
not  then  fall.  That  is,  they  had  not  fully  incurred 
all  this  punishment.  So  when  Jesus  called  on  them 
to  turn  from  their  iniquities,  that  they  might  escape 
this  dreadful  punishment,  it  was  not  counselling  with 
them  how  they  might  escape  it  after  they  had  fully 
incurred  it ;  but  it  was  calling  on  them  to  avoid  incur- 
ring it,  to  avoid  filling  up  that  measure  of  iniquity 
upon  which  said  punishment  was  predicated. 

Indeed,  so  far  is  it  from  the  truth  that  Jesus  under- 
took to  screen  men  from  their  just  deserts,  or  to  pur- 
chase impunity  for  them,  that  he  testifies  of  himself  that 
the  Father  had  committed  judgment  to  him ;  ^  and  that 
he,  in  his  kingdom,  will  render  to  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  deeds.''  And  St.  Paul  assures  us,  in  the 
most  positive  form  of  testimony,  that  of  an  interroga- 
tory assertion,  that  as,  under  the  law  given  by  the 
disposition  of  angels,  every  transgression  and  disobedi- 
ence received  a  just  recompense  of  reward,  2ve  cannot 
escape,  if  we  sin  against  the  principles  of  the  gospel.^ 

We  have  now  examined  the  common  sentiment  on 
the  questions.  From  what  has  Jesns  undertaken  to 
save  sinners  ?  and  how  ?  The  common  sentiment  is, 
that  he  saves  sinners  from  suffering  an  incurred  pen- 
alty of  the  law,  which  is  endless  death  or  misery. 

)  John  V.  27.  k  Matt.  xvi.  27  :  Rom.  ii.  6—16.  \  Heb.  ii.  2.  3. 


THE    MISSION    OF    CHRIST.  219 

And  the  ground  of  the  sinner's  hope  for  salvation  has 
been  the  supposition  that  Christ  has  suffered  the  pen- 
alty in  our  stead.  But,  on  examination,  this  hope 
vanisheth  away.  For  it  is  found  that  Christ  has 
never  suffered  any  such  penalty.  It  is  also  seen  that 
this  sentiment  dishonors  the  Judge  of  heaven  and 
earth ;  for  it  would  have  us  build  all  our  hopes  of  good 
on  the  supposition  that  he  punishes  the  innocent 
instead  of  the  guilty  ;  and  this  is  contrary  to  the  laws 
both  of  God  and  man.  The  word  of  God  forbids  that 
we  should  ever  expect  that  he  will  clear  us  from  our 
deserts  by  punishing  an  innocent  person  in  our  stead. 

Being  wearied  with  the  absurdities  and  shocking 
aspects  of  the  doctrine,  which  many  of  our  esteemed 
fellow-Christians  hold  up  in  theory,  we  determined  to 
appeal  ''  to  the  Law  and  the  Testimony."  But  we 
have  found  no  such  penalty  there  as  had  been  asserted. 
Therefore  there  is  no  need  of  our  seeking  any  longer 
after  ground  to  hope  for  salvation  from  a  deserved 
endless  punishment ;  because  the  law  requires  no  such 
punishment. 

But  we  have  seen  that  the  law  does  threaten  pun- 
ishment, proper  punishment,  upon  transgressors.  We 
have  also  inquired  Avhether  it  is  the  object  of  Jesus'  mis- 
sion to  save  men,  (not  from  the  imaginary  punishment 
which  learned  creeds  have  threatened,  but)  from  the 
real  punishment  threatened  by  the  law:  that  is, 
v/hether  it  is  the  business  of  Jesus  to  save  us  from 
suffering  the  threatenings  of  the  law  after  we  have 
incurred  them.  And  we  find  that  it  is  not.  We  have 
no  ground  to  believe  that  we  can  commit  sin  with  im- 
punity. If  we  go  on  in  sin,  we  must  suffer  the  misera- 
ble consequences.  ''  The  wages  of  sin  is  death ; "  and 
"The   soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die."     "In  his  sin 


220  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

that  he  hath  sinned,  and  in  his  trespass  that  he  hath 
trespassed,  he  shall  die."  So  saith  the  law ;  and  Jesus 
himself  has  never  offered  anything  in  opposition  to  it. 
He  has  never  engaged  to  prevent  men's  suffering 
death  as  long  as  the  law  requires,  which  is  as  long  as 
they  are  sinners. 

SECTION   II. 
Salvation  froWj  Sin. 

Let  us  now  renew  the  inquiry ; — What  is  the  salva- 
tion to  be  effected  by  the  mission  of  Christ  7  We  find 
an  answer  to  this  question  by  reading  the  latter 
clause  of  the  verse  which  commands  the  name  Jesus, 
or  Saviour,  to  be  given  him.  "  Thou  shalt  call  his 
name  Jesus ;  fo?^  he  shall  save  his  people  from  their 
sinsJ^""  This  is  the  object  of  Jesus'  mission,  to  "save 
his  people  from  their  sins."  The  same  sentiment  is 
expressed  by  the  saying,  ''  He  suffered,  the  just  for  the 
unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God."" 

But  what  is  the  difference,  it  will  be  asked,  between 
saving  people  from  their  sins,  and  saving  them  from  de- 
served punishment.  The  difference  is  easily  shown.  Let 
us  take  for  instance  the  case  of  the  Israelites,  referred 
to  in  the  preceding  section.  They  were  threatened 
with  different  degrees  of  punishment  upon  different 
degrees  of  sin,  till  it  came  to  the  last  and  most  severe ; 
viz.,  "If  ye  will  not  after  all  this  hearken  unto  me,  I 
will  punish  you  yet  seven  times  for  your  sins.  The 
flesh  of  your  sons,  and  the  flesh  of  your  daughters  ye 
shall  eat,"  &c.  Now  there  had  been  lesser  punish- 
ments threatened  upon  lesser  and  preceding  sins. 
Therefore,  when  they  had  sinned  to  the  degree  men- 

'"Matt.  i.  21.  "1  Peter  iii.  18. 


THE    MISSION    OF    CHRIST.  221 

tioned  next  below  this  last,  and  had  suffered  the  pun- 
ishment threatened  upon  such  sin,  they  did  not  de- 
serve the  last  mentioned  punishment,  till  they  had 
sinned  to  the  last  mentioned  degree. 

Now  when  they  had  sinned  to  the  last  mentioned 
degree,  to  have  screened  them  from  the  threatened 
punishment  would  have  been  against  the  law,  and 
proved  the  threatenings  of  Jehovah  to  be  null  and 
void.  But  to  have  saved  them  from  sin;  that  is,  to 
have  saved  them  from  committing  that  last  mentioned 
degree  of  sin,  would  have  saved  them  from  the  pun- 
ishment, not  by  screening  them  from  it  after  they  had 
incurred  it,  but  by  keeping  them  from  deserving  it. 
And  this,  of  course,  would  not  have  been  saving  them 
from  any  incurred  punishment;  it  would  have  been 
against  no  law;  nor  would  it  have  made  false  any 
threatening  of  God. 

But  here  the  reader  will  naturally,  and  very  prop- 
erly too,  push  his  inquiry,  "If  Jesus  did  not  suffer  as 
a  substitute  for  men,  to  save  them  from  deserved  pun- 
ishment, how  shall  we  understand  the  language  before 
quoted  from  Peter,— ''For  Christ  also  hath  once  suf- 
fered for  sins,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might 
bring  us  to  God  ?"  And  what  then  is  the  meaning  of 
other  Scriptures  like  these  ?— ''  But  he  was  wounded 
for  our  transgressions ;  he  was  bruised  for  our  iniqui- 
ties ;  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him ; 
and  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed.  All  we  like  sheep 
have  gone  astray ;  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his 
own  way  ;  but  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniqui- 
ties of  us  all."  "He  hath  borne  our  sins  in  his  own 
body  on  the  tree."  How  hath  he  ''borne  our  sins," 
and  "  suffered  for  us,"  unless  he  has  suffered  in  our 
stead  the  imnishment  of  our  sins  ? 
19^ 


222  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

I  answer,  in  any  sense  in  which  Jesus  has  suffered 
to  redeem  us  from  sin,  and  bring  us  to  God,  he  has 
suffered  for  us,  and  has  borne  our  sins.  A  shepherd 
has  a  flock  of  sheep  astray  in  the  wilderness,  and  un- 
dertakes to  redeem  them  out  of  their  lost  estate,  into 
his  fold.  But  in  doing  this  he  has  to  endure  many 
labors  and  hardships.  Now  in  these  labors  and  hard- 
ships he  suffers  for  his  flock.  He  bears  their  wander- 
ings; not  by  taking  on  himself  in  their  stead  all  the 
consequences  of  their  wanderings ;  they  themselves 
must  bear  all  the  necessary  consequences  of  their 
rambling.  It  is  the  shepherd's  work  to  save  them 
from  their  wanderings,  or  from  their  lost  estate ;  and 
thus  he  saves  them  from  farther  harm,  only  by  bring- 
ing them  out  of  that  condition  which  occasioned  their 
sufferings.*  And  he  suffers  for  them,  and  bears  their 
wanderings,  not  by  becoming  their  substitute,  but  by 
taking  upon  himself  those  labors  and  troubles,  which 
fall  in  his  way  as  he  perseveres  in  the  work  of  their 
redemption. 

Let  our  simile  now  be  applied.  All  we  like  sheep 
have  gone  astray.  We  have  been  wandering  in  the 
wilderness  of  sin.  Jesus,  as  a  kind  shepherd,  has 
undertaken  to  redeem  us  out  of  the  wilderness  of  sin 
and  misery,  and  bring  us  into  the  fold  of  righteousness 
and  peace.  In  carrying  on  this  work,  he  had  to  pass 
through  scenes  of  suffering,  and  even  a  painful  and 
ignominious  death.  In  these  labors  and  sufferings,  he 
suffered  for  us,  he  bore  our  sins.  But,  like  the  sheep 
in  the  wilderness,  we  ourselves  must  suffer  all  the  just. 
and  necessary  consequences  of  our  wanderings  ;  for  he 
saves  us  from  misery  only  by  bringing  us  out  of  that 
state  and  condition  which  occasions  it.  And  Jesus 
bore  our  sins,  not  by  suffering,  as  our  substitute,  our 


THE   MISSION    OF   CHRISt.  22^ 

deserved  punishment,  but  by  enduring  all  the  labors 
and  troubles  which  came  in  his  way,  as  he  pursued 
the  gracious  work  of  saving  us  fi^om  si?i,  or  from 
deserving  punishment.  To  this  sentiment  apply  the 
Scriptures  just  quoted.  "  By  his  stripes  we  are 
healed;" — that  is,  healed  of  sin.  "Christ  hath  once 
suffered,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring 
us  to  God." 

Washington  suffered  for  this  country ;  he  bore  the 
troubles  and  misfortunes  of  the  people;  and  if  he  had 
died  in  battle  at  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  while  con- 
tending for  his  country's  redemption,  he  would  have 
died  for  the  people.  But  when  Major  Andre,  or  some 
other  criminal,  had  been  sentenced  by  the  law  to  be 
hanged,  if  our  Congress  had  accepted  and  executed 
Washington  as  a  substitute,  it  would  have  been  a 
different  case,  utterly  different  in  principle.  If  such 
an  event  had  taken  place,  it  would  have  cast  a  blot 
on  the  pages  of  American  history ;  and  whenever  we 
read  it,  we  should  have  been  ashamed  of  the  folly  and 
injustice  of  our  government.  Now  the  same  difference 
is  apparent  between  the  sense  in  which  Christ  died  for 
us  according  to  the  Scriptures,  and  that  which  men 
have  asserted,  as  there  would  have  been  between 
Washington's  meeting  death  in  his  course,  while  la- 
boring for  the  redemption  of  his  people,  and  his  being 
executed  by  his  own  government  as  a  substitute  for 
Andre. 

But  there  is  a  key  to  this  subject  in  the  8th  of 
Matthew.  ''When  the  even  was  come,  they  brought 
unto  him  many  that  were  possessed  with  devils  ;  and 
he  cast  out  the  spirits  with  his  word,  and  healed  all 
that  were  sick :  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was 
spoken  by  Esaias  the  prophet,  saying,  Himself  took 


224  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

our  infirmities,  and  bare  our  sicknesses."  How  was 
this  saying  fulfilled,  ''Himself  took  our  infirmities, 
and  bare  our  sicknesses "?"  Was  it  by  Jesus'  becoming 
sick  in  their  stead  ?  When  he  found  one  sick  of  a 
fever,  did  he  take  the  fever  from  that  person  on  him- 
self, and  so  become  sick  of  a  fever  in  his  stead? 
When  he  found  people  blind  and  dumb,  did  he  be- 
come blind  and  dumb  in  their  stead  ?  Is  this  the  way 
that  Christ  fulfilled  the  saying,  "  Himself  took  our 
infirmities,  and  bare  our  sicknesses?"  No;  the  text 
informs  us,  "  He  healed  all  that  were  sick ;  that  the 
saying  might  be  fulfilled,  He  bare  our  sicknesses." 

This,  I  say,  will  serve  as  a  key  to  our  subject.  If 
ever  we  come  to  doubt  how  the  saying  is  fulfilled, 
"  He  bare  our  sins,"  let  us  then  inquire,  how  was  the 
saying  fulfilled,  "  He  bare  our  sicknesses  ?"  And  when 
we  see  that  this  saying  was  fulfilled  by  his  healing 
their  sicknesses,  then  we  may  understand  that  the  say- 
ing '*'  He  bare  our  sins,"  or  spiritual  sicknesses,  is  ful- 
filled by  his  healing  them.  "  He  shall  save  his  people 
from  their  sins." 

OBJECTION. 

Perhaps  the  question  ought  here  to  be  considered, 
which  has,  by  a  certain  description  of  persons,  been 
thought  of  considerable  weight,  viz.,  If  the  law  itself 
do  not  require  an  endless  punishment ;  if  man  himself 
may  suffer  the  punishment  of  his  own  sins,  and  not 
be  endlessly  miserable,  of  what  use  is  a  Saviour 
at  all  ? 

To  prepare  the  way  for  a  simple  answer  to  this 
question,  let  us  propose  another.  If  the  sick  man  may 
sufier  the  pain  of  his  own  disease,  what  need  has  he 
of  a  physician  ?  or  what  need  lias  he  of  being  healed  ? 
Your  answer  is,  if  his  disease  produces  pain,  and  he 


MISSION    OF    CHRIST.  225 

must  suffer  it  himself^  he  has  the  greater  need  of  a 
physician.  For  in  this  case,  the  longer  the  disorder 
remains,  the  longer  the  distress  continues ;  and  it  is 
necessary  that  the  disease  should  be  removed,  that  its 
painful  consequences  may  cease. 

Here  you  will  observe,  that  the  person  who  has 
been  healed  of  some  disorder,  has  suffered  all  the  pain 
which  the  law  of  our  physical  nature  requires.  This 
law  does  not  require  that  one  shall  suffer  the  pain 
of  a  disease,  after  the  disease  is  removed,  and  he  is 
restored  to  health.  It  only  requires  that  he  shall 
suffer  the  pain  as  long  as  the  disease  continues. 

So  with  the  moral  law.  It  only  requires  that  a 
person  shall  suffer  the  pain  of  his  moral  disease  as 
long  as  he  continues  in  it.  If  a  man  commit  iniquity, 
saith  Ezekiel,  ''In  his  sin  that  he  hath  sinned  he  shall 
die."  "There  is  no  peace  to  the  wicked."  ''God 
will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  work. 
Tribulation  and  anguish  upon  every  soul  of  man 
that  doeth  evil."  This  the  sinner  must  suffer  him- 
self;  for  it  is  the  word  of  God  who  cannot  lie. 
Therefore  a  Saviour  is  absolutely  necessary,  to  save 
the  sinner  from  sin.  For  as  long  as  he  continues 
in  sin,  this  threatened  death,  or  tribulation  and 
anguish,  will  abide  upon  him.  Hence,  if  men  were 
to  continue  in  sin  to  all  eternity,  they  would  be 
eternally  miserable.  For  moral  misery  is  coeval  with 
the  moral  disease! 

We  can  now  discover  that  the  work  of  salvation 
by  Christ  is  very  beautifully  represented  by  the  heal- 
ing of  the  sick.  For  by  this  representation,  we  learn 
that  he  saves  us  from  moral  woe,  by  removing  the 
cause,  and  restoring  us  to  a  state  of  spiritual  health, 
which  is  holiness.     "Christ  loved  the  church,  and 


226  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

gave  himself  for  it,  that  he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse 
it  with  the  washing  of  water  by  the  word ;  and  that 
he  might  present  it  to  himself  a  glorious  church,  not 
having  spot,  nor  wrinkle,  nor  any  such  thing,  but 
that  it  should  be  holy  and  without  blemish."° 

RECAPITULATION. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  give  short  and  direct 
answers  to  these  several  inquiries. 

1st.  Who  are  the  unjust^  for  iDhom  the  just  Saviour 
suffered?  Answer:  They  are  mankind  as  a  race  of 
beings.  ''All  we  like  sheep  have  gone  astray,  (have 
become  unjust,)  and  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the 
iniquities  of  us  all."  (Isa.  liii.  6.)  "  He,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  tasted  death  for  every  man."    (Heb.  ii.  9.) 

2d.  In  lohat  sense  are  we  to  understand  that  Christ 
suffered  for  the  unjust  7  Has  he  suffered  the  punish- 
ment which  the  unjust  deserved^  or  for  the  sins  of  the 
unjust 7  Answer:  Christ  was  not  punished  instead 
of  the  unjust,  which  we  have  seen  to  be  contrary  to 
the  Scriptures,  and  to  involve  a  principle  contrary  to 
all  revealed  justice.  But  he  has  suffered  for,  or  on 
account  of,  the  sins  of  the  unjust ;  because  it  was  in 
the  prosecution  of  a  work  for  their  salvation  from  sin 
and  its  evils,  that  he  suffered  and  died*  He  "bare 
our  sins,"  in  the  same  sense  in  which  he  fulfilled  the 
saying,  "he  bare  our  sicknesses,"  viz.,  by  sympathy, 
— and  by  taking  on  himself  the  charge  of  the  case, 
and  the  application  of  the  cure. 

3d.  If  Christ  has  suffered  for  the  sins  of  the  unjust^ 
are  the  unjust  to  suffer  for  their  own  sins  ?  Answer  : 
Yes;  because  he  did  not  suffer,  as  a  substitute,  the 
punishment  of  their  sins ;  but  he  suffered  as  the  ser- 

o  Eph.  V.  20. 


MISSION    OF   CHKIST.  227 

vant  of  God  and  friend  of  man,  and  attested  by  his 
own  blood  the  verity  of  that  love  Divine  which  shall 
overcome  all  evil  with  good,  and  bring  us,  as  dear 
children,  to  our  Father,  God. 

4th.  If  men  do  not  suffer  for  their  own  sins,  hoio 
does  '^  evei^y  one^^  receive  according  to  his  loorks,  lohether 
good  or  bad  7  Answer :  Men  do  and  shall  suffer  for 
their  own  sins.  To  deny  this  is  to  contradict  the  gen- 
eral train  of  Scripture  testimony  on  this  subject.  As 
the  strayed  sheep  in  the  wilderness,  which  the  shep- 
herd seeks  to  restore,  must  suffer  the  evils  of  their 
own  wanderings, — and  the  shepherd  bears  their  wan- 
derings only  by  sympathy,  and  in  the  labors  and 
sufferings  of  restoring  them, — and  he  saves  them  from 
continued  sufferings  only  by  bringing  them  out  of  the 
condition  which  caused  them  to  suffer  ; — so  must  we 
suffer  the  miseries  of  our  sins  while  we  will  continue 
to  be  sinners, — and  Jesus  saves  us  from  continued 
sufferings  only  by  bringing  us  out  of  the  condition 
which  occasions  our  miseries,  viz.,  sin.  "  He  suffered, 
the  just   for    the  unjust,   that  he  might  biding  us  to 

God:' 

The  reader  will  perceive,  by  duly  considering  the 
expositions  which  we  have  offered  on  the  subject  of 
the  foregoing  inquiries,  that  we  are  the  only  denomi- 
nation of  Christians  who  believe  and  maintain  the  doc- 
trine so  abundantly  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  viz.,  that 
"the  Lord  searcheth  the  heart  and  trieth  the  reins, 
even  tO  give  every  man  according  to  his  ways,  and 
according  to  the  fruit  of  his  doings."  All  other  doc- 
trines make  the  whole  multitude  of  those  who 
shall  be  saved  in  heaven,  be  they  more  or  less,  to  be 
exceptions  to  the  truth  of  these  Scriptural  teachings. 
Consequently,  whenever  they  have  aught  to  say  of  a 


228  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

sect  of  religionists  who  deny  the  threatenings  of  the 
Bible,  we  may  promptly  and  justly  reply  unto  them, 
Thou  art  the  sect. 

SECTION    III. 

The  General  Purpose  of  the  Saviour'' s  Mission. 

In  viewing  Jehovah's  purpose  through  the  mission 
of  his  Son,  we  discover  his  grand  design  in  the  crea- 
tion of  our  race.  For  in  this  we  see  the  purposed 
inheritance  of  man,  his  ultimate  allotment.  Surely, 
then,  there  is  no  subject  that  can  engage  the  attention 
of  man,  which  is  so  important  as  this.  It  would  be 
with  an  earnest  solicitude  that  men  would  search  the 
revelations  of  some  political  economy,  which  should 
promise  an  increase  of  national  wealth.  With  what 
devout  faithfulness,  then,  should  we  search  the  record 
of  the  infinite  Father's  will  and  purpose,  involving  the 
interest  of  our  immortal  being. 

There  is  no  place  for  cavil  here — nor  for  fear,  other 
than  reverential  fear.  True,  we  are  not  now  advanc- 
ing upon  a  subject  which  relates  to  the  reward  of  our 
doings.  It  is  upon  an  inheritance  which  is  "  not  ac- 
cording to  our  works,  but  according  to  the  purpose 
and  grace  of  God,  which  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus 
before  the  world  began."  ^  But  we  should  not  for  this 
reason  start  back,  shut  our  eyes,  and  refuse  to  look, 
lest  we  should  see  revelations  of  grace  so  glorious  as 
to  paralyze  our  moral  efforts.  From  the  mere  fact 
that  a  subject  does  not  relate  to  the  payment  of  our 
earnings,  it  does  not  follow  that  it  is  demoralizing  to 
consider  it.  While  we  are  assured  that,  "  though  hand 
join  in  hand,  the  wicked  shall  not  be  unpunished,"  ^ 

P2  Tim.  i.  9.  qPro.  xi.  21. 


PURPOSE    OF    THE    SAVIOUr's    MISSION.  229 

and  that  for  all  the  good  we  do  we  shall  receive  pay- 
ment in  full,  even  for  the  smallest  deed  of  virtue/ 
we  cannot  be  harmed  by  discovering  other  good, 
which  is  beyond  our  merits.  Are  you  afraid  to  open 
your  eyes  to  the  wonderful  revelations  of  science,  lest 
you  should  behold  so  much  of  the  wisdom  and  majesty 
and  glory  of  God,  which  are  not  according  to  your 
works,  as  to  afflict  you  with  moral  indifference'? 
Never!  These  advancing  discoveries  of  the  Crea- 
tor's adorable  perfections,  as  displayed  in  his  works, 
rather  elevate  your  moral  affections,  and  promote 
their  active  vigor.  So  will  "the  light  of  knowledge 
of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,"  inspire 
increasing  admiration  and  love  for  the  Divine  perfec- 
tions, and  add  a  zest  to  the  pleasures  of  obedience.  I 
say  then  to  the  reader,  in  the  language  of  Gabriel  to 
the  shepherds,  "Fear  not" — to  open  your  eyes  and 
your  ears  to  the  revelations  of  Jesus  Christ. 

But  there  is  a  point  presenting  itself  here,  which  I 
wish  to  settle  with  the  reader  in  the  outset.  An  un- 
derstanding of  it  is  essential  to  our  pursuing  with  profit 
the  subject  before  us.  It  relates  to  the  reality  and 
consistency  of  any  such  fact^  as  an  efficient  purpose 
and  government  of  God  in  the  moral  creation.  In  the 
views  taken  in  the  first  two  chapters  of  this  work, 
evincing  the  wisdom  and  power  of  God  in  the  arrange- 
ments, designs,  and  government  of  the  physical  world, 
all  will  go  with  us.  When  they  look  into  the  arrange- 
ment, adaptedness,  and  harmony, — 

'' the  bearings  and  the  ties, — 


The  strong  connexions,  nice  dependencies," 

of  this  outward  system, — they  will  all  shout  the  praise 

rMatt.  X.  42. 
20 


230  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

and  glory  of  God,  in  view  of  his  perfect  plan  and 
government  in  it. 

But  what  is  the  physical  universe  7  Of  itself,  alone, 
it  is  worth  nothing.  All  this  vast  material  creation, 
without  a  sentient  creature  to  inhabit  it,  would  be  as 
useless  as  boundless  void.  The  prophet  says  of  God's 
creation  of  the  world,  "  He  created  it  not  in  vain;  he 
made  it  to  be  inhabited."  And  though  it  is  made  to 
be  the  habitation  of  a  great  variety  of  animals,  it  is 
chiefly  designed  for  MAN,  as  an  intellectual  and  moral 
being. 

It  must  have  been  for  a  noble  purpose  that  God  con- 
stituted mankind  with  such  faculties: — and  in  his 
revealed  word,  and  in  his  creation  and  providence,  we 
see  the  proofs  of  his  corresponding  care  and  regard  for 
us.  The  very  ordinances  of  heaven  are  ordained  for 
our  benefit.  This  vast  and  stupendous  outward  crea- 
tion, with  its  wonderful  order  and  grandeur  and 
utility,  was  not  a  sport  of  ingenuity  and  power.  It 
was  designed  as  a  means  to  occupy  the  mind  of  man, 
and  develope  gradually  to  his  understanding  the 
wisdom,  and  power,  and  goodness  of  Jehovah,— thus 
contributing  both  to  the  physical  support  and  the 
mental  enjoyment  of  his  children.  What  a  depth  of 
wisdom — what  a  vast  profundity  of  wonderfully 
contrived  sources  of  human  convenience  and  enjoy- 
ment, is  there  provided  in  God's  creation,  into  which 
the  human  mind  is  gradually  making  discoveries, — 
and  which  must  forever  have  been  useless,  were  it  not 
for  such  creatures  as  man,  with  capacities  to  seek  out 
and  adapt  their  uses.  Indeed,  the  whole  visible  crea- 
tion, with  all  its  wonders  and  utilities  and  glories, 
seems  chiefly  designed  for  us.  Strike  out  of  being  the 
intellectual  creation,  the  universe  of  created  minds^ 


PURPOSE    OF    THE    SAVIOUr's    MISSION.  231 

and  the  chief  adaptedness  and  glory  of  the  material 
creation  are  lost. 

What  an  affecting  discovery  do  we  here  make  of 
the  importance  of  man  in  God's  creation,  and  of  the 
Divine  regard  for  him.  The  vast  material  universe  is 
specially  provided  for  him,  and  is  comparatively  use- 
less without  him !  Methinks  I  see  the  minds  of  my 
readers  rising  in  the  majesty  of  the  subject,  and  con- 
scious of  the  elevation  of  their  rank,  as  creatures 
receiving  so  great  and  special  attention  from  the  Eter- 
nal, pressing  the  inquiry,  with  a  pious  earnestness  to 
know,  and  to  improve  by  it, — ''  What  is  the  purpose 
of  God  in  this  crowning  work  of  his  creation  7" 

It  is  to  this  subject  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  chief 
manifestation  of  the  Divine  perfections.  Yet  it  is  here, 
mainly,  that  the  creeds  of  men  have  dishonored  and 
exploded  the  wisdom  and  power  of  God.  They  look 
into  the  physical  system,  and  shout  praises  to  the  per- 
fection of  God's  purpose  and  government  in  it; — but 
coming  to  the  intellectual  and  moral  creation,  they 
hardly  dare  look  whether  there  is  a  purpose  and  gov- 
ernment there,  evincing  the  wisdom  and  power  of 
God,  or  not.  It  is  as  if  you  were  sitting  in  judgment 
on  the  character  of  a  father,  and  formed  your  decision 
by  the  splendor  of  his  house,  utterly  regardless  of  his 
conduct  towards  his  family. 

Did  I  say  that  men  hardly  dare  look  into  the  moral 
system,  whether  there  is  a  perfect  plan  and  govern- 
ment there  or  not?  Nay,  in  treating  of  this  most  im- 
portant department  of  God's  creation,  they  ascribe  to 
him  malevolence,  and  weakness,  and  folly.  They 
assert  that  countless  millions  of  God's  immortal  family 
will  be  doomed  to  employ  their  minds,  and  all  their 
faculties  as  thinking,  moral,  feeling  beings,  in  cursing 


232  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

God,  cursing  their  own  existence,  and  in  demonstra- 
tions and  howlinsfs  of  boundless  torment.  And  how 
should  this  appalUng  catastrophe  be  the  end  of  God's 
moral  creation  and  government  1  It  used,  when  there 
was  more  hardihood  in  theologians  than  there  is  now, 
to  be  assumed  that  this  was  pursuant  to  the  original  pur- 
pose of  the  Creator.  John  Calvin  says,  in  his  Book  of 
Institutes,  ''All  men  are  not  created  to  the  like  estate, 
but  to  some  eternal  life,  and  to  others  eternal  damna- 
tion, was  fore-appointed." 

But  it  is  so  obvious  to  common  sense  that  this  view 
denies  to  God  that  wisdom  which  works  always  to 
a  good  end,  and  ascribes  to  him  a  purpose  which  none 
other  than  a  spirit  of  infinite  malignity  could  devise 
and  prosecute,  that  there  is  scarcely  a  man  now  who 
will  ascribe  to  God  such  an  original  purpose.  Yet,  the 
creeds  of  many  still  embrace  the  same  dreadful  result. 
And  why  shall  it  so  eventuate?  They  say  the  origi- 
nal intentions  of  God  were  good  and  benevolent. '  The 
creation  of  man  was  a  motion  of  the  Divine  benevo- 
lence, with  the  design  to  produce  and  rear  up  a  great 
family  of  children  to  share  with  him  in  eternal  felicity. 
Why,  then,  shall  the  result  be  so  painfully  different, 
presenting,  instead  of  the  intended  scene  of  moral 
beauty  and  blessedness,  a  boundless  scene  of  moral 
wretchedness  and  ruin?  Of  course  so  many  unex- 
pected events  must  have  taken  place,  and  things  in 
their  operation  must  have  had  so  different  a  bearing 
upon  one  another  from  what  was  intended,  that  the 
Deity  is  painfully  disappointed,  and  irretrievably 
failed,  in  the  end  !  There  is  a  failure  of  the  Divine 
plan ! 

This  view  obviously  ascribes  imperfection  to  God,  in 
respect  to  his  knowledge,  his  wisdom,  and  his  power. 


PURPOSE    OF    THE    SAVIOUr's    MISSION.  233 

If  unexpected  events  occurred  to  defeat  the  original 
plan  of  the  Deity,  he  was  of  course  ignorant  of  those 
contingent  events.  Infinite  knowledge,  or  prescience, 
cannot  be  disappointed.  To  say  that  God  foreknew 
the  result,  and  yet  adopted  and  pursued  the  abortive 
plan,  is  to  deny  his  wisdom  ;  for  nothing  but  con- 
summate folly  will  engage  in  a  purpose  it  knows  wiL. 
fail.  And  in  either  case  the  'power  of  God  is  limited  ; 
for  he  is  represented  to  be  unable  to  accomplish  his 
own  purpose,  in  the  most  important  department  of  his 
creation  and  government. 

But  there  is  a  late  specious  method  of  evading 
these  irreverent  conclusions,  which  result  from  the 
passing  theology  of  the  day.  It  is  to  say  that  God 
does  not  fail  in  his  purpose,  although  his  children, 
few,  many,  or  all,  should  be  the  subjects  of  final 
wretchedness ; — for  that  his  purpose  was  that  mankind 
should  be  finally  happy  or  miserable,  just  as  they 
should  make  themselves,  under  the  various  and  coun- 
ter influences  in  the  midst  of  which  he  would  place 
them.  But  strip  the  idea  here  comprised,  of  the 
sophistical  garb  in  which  it  is  dressed,  and  it  is  simply 
and  plainly  this, — that  God  had  no  definite  purpose  in 
the  creation  of  the  human  race.  By  a  sport  of  inge- 
nuity and  power  he  threw  them  out  into  existence, 
with  their  wonderful  capacities,  and  cast  them  upon 
the  varying  and  eddying  tide  of  time,  with  ho  purpose 
at  all  as  to  what  they  should  be,  how  they  should 
fare,  or  how  their  faculties  should  be  employed,  whe- 
ther to  the  production  of  final  good  or  final  evil ! 

Surely  the  system  of  faith  which  comprises  such  a 

view  of  the  creation  of  God,  cannot  be  received  as  the 

gospel  of  him,  who,  by  a  just  metonymy  of  speech,  is 

called  the  loisdom  of  God.     We  look  into  the  physical 

20=^ 


234  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

creation,  and  in  things  of  comparatively  no  impor- 
tance, there  is  acknowledged  on  all  hands  to  have 
been  a  definite  and  infallible  purpose  in  their  produc- 
tion. But  those  beings,  for  whom  all  other  things 
were  made, — the  universe  of  created  minds,  each  one 
of  which  is  of  more  importance  than  all  the  universe 
besides,  are  supposed  to  be  thrown  out  into  existence 
without  a  plan  !  there  being  with  the  Creator  no  great 
purpose  as  to  their  final  employment  and  condition  ! — 
But  these  dark,  blank,  soul-mystifying  schemes  of 
religious  profession,  are  the  folly  of  man,  and  not  of 
God. 

I  have  made  these  brief  references  to  opposites,  in 
order  to  make  more  clear  and  impressive  the  affirma- 
tive of  our  subject.  In  the  grand  moral  system  taught 
by  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  highest  and 
fullest  manifestation  of  the  wisdom,  and  all  the  perfec- 
tions of  God.  And  here  his  wisdom  is  seen  to  be  that 
which  is  "  full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits,  without  par- 
tiality and  without  hypocrisy." «  Its  moving  energy  is 
love.  And  the  communication  of  this  interesting  truth 
is  the  first  aim  and  efibrt  of  the  gospel.  "God  is 
love."  ''God  commendeth  his  love  towards  us,  in 
that  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us."' 
And  this  testimony  of  love  is  for  our  race;  for,  "he, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  tasted  death  for  every  man."" 
It  is  hence  evinced  that  "  the  Lord  is  good  to  all  and 
his  tender  mercies  are  over  all  his  works."  ^  Such 
being  the  moral  character  and  disposition  of  the  Cre- 
ator, it  was  of  course  his  desire^  in  the  creation  of  our 
species,  to  make  their  existence  to  be  their  blessing. 
All,  indeed,  ascribe  to  God  this  benevolent  desire. 
And  as  a  wise  Creator,  he  would,  of  course,  institute 

«  James  iii.  17.  i  Rom.  v.  8.  «  Heb.  ii.  9.  ^  Ps.  cxlv.  0. 


PURPOSE   OF    THE    SAVIOUR'S   MISSION.  235 

a  purpose  agreeable  to  his  desire.  And  so  he  did.  By 
the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  "he  hath  abounded  to- 
ward us  in  all  wisdom  and  prudence,  having  made 
known  unto  us  the  mystery  of  his  will,  according  to 
his  good  pleasure,  which  he  hath  purposed  i?i  hiniself, 
that  in  the  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  times  he 
might  gather  together  in  one  all  things  in  Christ,  both 
which  are  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  even  in  him.'"' 

It  is  hence  seen  to  be  a  settled  point,  that  God  hath 
a  purpose  in  his  moral  creation, — not  a  purpose  which 
may  be  anything  or  nothing,  purposed  and  thrown  at 
loose  ends  in  some  weak  and  fallible  agency, — ^but  he 
hath  purposed  it  i?i  himself, — committing  its  perform- 
ance to  his  owii  wisdom  and  might.  And  this  purpose 
is,  that  his  moral  creation  shall  be  harmonized  and 
beatified  with  his  own  spirit  of  love  and  blessedness, 
revealed  in  Jesus  Christ.  And  though  some  have  told 
us  that  if  all  this  is  true,  it  is  not  wise  and  prudent  to 
preach  it,  yet  the  apostle  assures  us  that  in  the  full 
revelation  of  this  glorious  truth,  God  "hath  abounded 
toward  us  in  all  wisdom  and  2J?'udencey  That  it  is 
so,  we  shall  see  demonstrated  in  the  sequel. 

An  objection  to  our  faith-inspiring  view  of  the  per- 
fect and  successful  wisdom  and  power  of  God  in  his 
moral  creation  and  government,  has  been  thought  to 
be  raised  from  the  present  existence  of  evil.  "  God,"  it 
is  said,  "is  as  wise,  and  good,  and  powerful  now,  as 
he  ever  will  be ;  and  therefore  as  evil  now  exists,  not- 
withstanding such  are  the  perfections  of  God,  it  always 
may  exist  with  equal  consistency."  But  this  is  a  beg- 
ging of  the  question.  There  is  no  dispute  that  evil 
exists;  but  why  is  it  permitted  to  be?  We  are  no- 
where told  that  it  is  in  frustration  of  any  purpose  of 

"  Eph.  i.  S— 10. 


236  COMPEND   OP    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

God.  God  saw  fit  to  give  us  our  initiatory  state  of 
being  in  a  mortal  constitution,  with  passions  and  ap- 
petites subject  to  various  and  counter  influences.  He 
has  given  us  a  law,  or  rule  of  right  and  happiness. 
But  he  has  not  revealed  it  as  his  'purpose^  at  once  and 
from  the  beginning,  to  fill  the  minds  of  men  with  the 
full  light  and  knowledge  of  his  truth  and  glory,  and 
bring  to  bear  upon  them  all  that  moral  influence, 
which  should  make  this  law  of  right  the  governing 
principle  of  the  whole  man.  True,  the  neglect  of  this 
law  is  sometimes  called  the  not  doing  of  the  toill  of 
God.  But  a  will  of  precept  is  here  meant,  and  not  a 
will  of  purpose.  Men  may,  and  do,  in  this  peccable 
state,  violate  the  law  of  commandment,  or  rule  of 
moral  right,  given  them  to  guide  and  discipline.  But 
if  we  once  admit  that  men  may  frustrate  the  purpose 
of  God,  to  our  mind  the  Deity  is  dethroned, — all  our 
hope  in  him  is  vanished,  and,  "like  the  baseless 
fabric  of  a  vision,  leaves  not  a  wreck  behind." 

But  our  immortal  hope  is  not  in  the  will  of  precept,  or 
law  of  commandment,  which  is  made  binding  upon  all 
men  from  the  beginning ; — it  is  in  the  revealed  will  of 
purpose  which  Jehovah  hath  purposed  in  himself. 
His  own  perfections,  then,  are  pledged  for  its  accom- 
pHshment — not  all  at  the  present  moment,  but  "in  the 
dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  times."  And  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  this  purpose,  God  will  make  tributary 
the  very  incidents  which  have  been  urged  as  objec- 
tions to  his  successful  wisdom  and  goodness  in  his 
plans.  The  experience  which  shall  be  derived  both 
from  the  obedience  and  disobedience  of  the  will  of  pre- 
cept, and  the  rewards  and  punishments  consequent, — 
and  from  the  various  blessings  and  trials  of  earth, — 
and  from  the  ravages  of  death,  and  the  resurrection  from 


237 

the  dead, — and  the  teachings  and  manifestations  of 
truth  and  love, — all  these  disciplines,  trials,  mercies, 
and  moral  influences,  will  God  make  to  couour,  by 
their  operations,  in  due  time  to  remove  the  very  will 
and  disposition  of  wrong,  and  make  the  law  of  love, 
and  life,  and  liberty,  and  praise,  the  ruling  spirit  of  the 
universal  whole. 

What !  the  present  existence  of  evil  an  objection 
to  this  hope  1  We  have  seen  that  the  present  exist- 
ence of  evil  is  not  a  failure  of  the  original  purpose  of 
God ; — but  its  eternal  continuance  would  be.  Such  is 
the  revealed  word.  "  The  creature  (creation)  was 
made  subject  to  vanity,  not  willingly,  but  by  reason 
of  him  who  hath  subjected  the  same  in  hope ;  because 
the  creature  itself  also  shall  be  delivered  from  the 
bondage  of  corruption,  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the 
children  of  God."^  IS  the  fact,  then,  that  the  creation 
is  as  God  made  it,  subject  to  vanity,  an  argument  that  it 
shall  not  he  as  he  has  puijjosed  to  make  it,  delivered  from 
the  bondage  of  corruption,  into  the  glorious  liberty  of 
the  children  of  God? — The  wisdom  of  the  world  is 
foolishness  indeed,  compared  with  the  wisdom  of 
Heaven. 

The  Scriptures  are  so  full  of  instruction  on  the  great 
subject  before  us,  that  it  is  difficult  to  restrict  our  selec- 
tions to  the  space  that  can  be  afforded.  But  to  inspire 
the  reader  with  admiration  of  the  fulness,  the  force, 
and  the  harmony  of  the  inspired  teachings,  on  this  as 
on  other  great  and  important  doctrines,  I  will  go  back 
to  the  beginning,  and  present  specimens  of  the  testi- 
mony as  it  proceeds  from  age  to  age. 

On  the  instance  of  the  first  communication  of  God 
to  man,  after  he  had  fallen  under  the  power  of  evil,  he 

«  Rom.  viii.  20,21. 


238  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

declared  in  substance,  that  the  seed  of  the  woman  shall 
bruise  the  serpenfs  headJ  Let  us  maintain,  now,  the 
shiiphcity  of  an  inquiring  child,  and  receive  this,  and 
every  other  witness,  in  its  legitimate  and  natural  bear- 
ing. Go  back  in  your  thoughts  to  that  interesting 
occasion.  There  stand  the  human  race,  in  embryo,  in 
their  first  progenitors.  They  have  just  fallen  a  prey 
to  deception,  and  become  involved  in  the  bondage  of 
sin.  The  source  of  the  deception,  and  the  consequent 
evil  that  is  preying  upon  them,  is  represented  by  the 
metaphor  of  a  serpent,  which  is  an  emblem  of  cim- 
n'mg.  And  now,  their  Creator  and  Father,  for  their 
encouragement  and  hope,  declares  in  their  hearing, 
that  the  woman's  seed  shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head. 
As  the  bruising  of  the  head  denotes  entire  destruction, 
the  plain  indication  of  this  passage  to  the  unsophisti- 
cated mind,  is,  that  God  would  raise  up  one  of  the 
woman's  progeny,  who  should  make  an  end  of  evil, 
and  free  from  its  dominion  the  moral  creation. 

There  is  the  same  indication  in  the  promise  of  God 
revealed  to  Abraham,  and  renewed  to  Isaac,  and 
again  to  Jacob: — "In  thy  seed  shall  all  nations  (kin- 
dreds and  families)  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  ^  St. 
Peter  applies  this  to  Jesus  Christ;  and  explains  the 
promised  blessing  to  be  the  salvation  described  in  the 
preceding  section,  deliverance  from  sin.  "Ye  are  the 
children  of  the  prophets,  and  of  the  covenant  which 
God  made  with  our  fathers,  saying  unto  Abraham, 
And  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  kindreds  of  the  earth  be 
blessed.  Unto  you  first,  God,  having  raised  up  his 
Son  Jesus,  sent  him  to  bless  you,  in  turning  away 
every  one  of  you  from  his  iniquities.""    St.  Paul  also 

y  Gen.  iii.  15.  ■'■  Gen.  xviii.  18  ;  xxii.  18  ;  xxvi.  4  ;  xxviii.  14. 

a  Acts  iii.  25.  26, 


PURPOSE    OF    THE   SAVIOUFv's    MISSION.  239 

draws  from  this  ancient  promise  the  same  hope  of 
spiritual  good.  To  the  Galatians  he  says,  "And  the 
Scriptures,  foreseeing  that  God  would  justify  the 
heathen  through  faith,  preached  before  the  gospel 
unto  Abraham,  saying,  In  thee  shall  all  nations  be 
blessed."  And  he  further  assures  us  that  there  is  no 
principle  involved  in  the  law,  which  was  given  to 
Moses  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  after  this  gospel 
promise,  which  shall  in  any  manner  interfere  to  pre- 
vent the  graciously  promised  work  of  moral  renova- 
tion. ^ 

The  prophet  Isaiah,  describing  in  poetic  strain  the 
blessed  work  of  Messiah's  mission,  says, — "  He  shall 
smite  the  earth  with  the  rod  of  his  mouth,  and  with 
the  breath  of  his  lips  shall  he  slay  the  wicked.  The 
wolf  also  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard 
shall  lie  down  with  the  kid;  and  the  calf,  and  the 
young  lion,  and  the  fatling  together,  and  a  little  child 
shall  lead  them."°  Observe,  it  is  with  the  breath  of 
his  lijjs  that  he  will  slay  the  wicked, — the  word  of  his 
truth  and  grace.  And  as  it  is  not  with  the  brute  crea- 
tion, but  the  moral  world,  that  his  mission  has  to  do, 
what  is  here  said  of  the  friendliness  and  docility  of  the 
leopard,  wolf  and  lion,  is  a  poetic  description  of  the 
effect  upon  the  moral  world,  to  be  wrought  by  the 
reign  of  Christ. 

The  same  blessed  work  is  signified  again  by  a  deliv- 
erance from  darkness  and  prison.  "I  the  Lord  have 
caUed  thee  in  righteousness,  and  will  hold  thine  hand, 
and  will  keep  thee,  and  give  thee  for  a  covenant  of 
the  people,  for  a  hght  of  the  Gentiles;  to  open  the 
blind  eyes,  to  bring  out  the  prisoners  from  the  prison, 

b  Gal,  iii.  8,  17.  <^  Isa.  xi.  4,  6. 


240  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

and  them  that  set  in  darkness  out  of  the  prison- 
house.'"^ 

There  is  an  important  point  in  all  these  gospel  testi- 
monies, to  which  I  would  call  the  reader's  particular 
attention.  They  do  not  treat  on  the  reward  of  human 
virtue,  but  on  the  plan  of  God  to  produce  virtue  itself. 
We  are  not  here  instructed  as  to  what  shall  be  the 
allotment  of  those  who  will  escape  from  darkness  and 
from  prison;  but  we  are  taught  of  the  purpose  of 
God's  moral  government  through  Christ,  to  open  the 
blind  eyes,  to  bring  out  the  prisoners  from  the  prison, 
and  them  that  sit  in  darkness  out  of  the  prison-house. 

The  purpose  of  God  in  Christ  contemplates  mankind 
as  in  moral  darkness,  in  the  bondage  of  sin  and  error ; 
and  it  institutes  plans  and  arrangements  for  their  en- 
lightenment and  moral  renovation.  By  duly  observ- 
ing this  trait  in  the  gospel  teachings,  as  you  make 
progress,  you  will  be  the  better  qualified  to  appre- 
ciate our  elucidation  of  the  same  in  the  sequel. 

Passing  over  a  world  of  instruction  on  this  interest- 
ing subject,  by  the  prophets,  we  will  come  and  listen 
to  the  first  annunciation  of  the  Saviour's  advent. 
''And  there  were  in  the  same  country  shepherds 
abiding  in  the  field,  keeping  watch  over  their  flocks 
by  night.  And  lo,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  came  upon 
them,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shone  round  about 
them ;  and  they  were  sore  afraid.  And  the  angel  said 
unto  them.  Fear  not;  for^  behold^  I  bring  unto  you 
good  tidifigs  of  great  joy,  which  shall  be  unto  all  'peo- 
ple. For  unto  you  is  born,  this  day,  in  the  city  of 
David,  a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the  Lord."' 

Unto  whom  is  Christ  born  to  be  a  Saviour  ?  This 
was  addressed  to  the  shepherds  of  Judea;  "  Unto  you 

<J  Isa.  xlii.  6,  7.  t:  Luke  ii.  8—11. 


241 

is  born  a  Saviour.'*  Is  he  born  for  others?  Yes;  for 
the  angel  said  this  good  news  shall  be  to  all 'people^ — 
"unto  you  is  born  a  Saviour."  So,  then,  the  creden- 
tials with  which  the  Messiah  is  introduced  upon  earth, 
correspond  with  the  expectation  which  prophetic  vis- 
ions had  inspired.  And  who  can  be  indifferent  to  this 
sweet  angelic  message  7  All  heaven  is  in  excitement. 
The  angel  host,  in  glowing  love  to  men,  seeing  the  end 
of  that  high  mission  which  shall  make  them  angels 
too,  draw  near  to  earth  in  rapturous  song, — "  Glory  to 
God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good  loill  to 


"  Angelic  hosts  above 

The  blest  Redeemer  sing, 
And  all  the  blissful  seats  of  love 


"  Ye  pilgrims  too,  below, 

Your  hearts  and  voices  raise ; 
Let  every  breast  with  gladness  glow, 
And  every  mouth  be  praise."' 

[Digression.  Kind  reader,  I  desire  you  to  hold  in 
mind  the  point  of  progress  in  our  subject  at  which  we 
now  break  off,  while  you  go  with  me  in  a  short  di- 
gression. I  solemnly  ask  you  to  ponder,  with  prayerful 
candor,  the  question  I  have  to  ask  you.  The  stage  of 
our  progress  in  the  study  of  Messiah's  mission,  is  the 
precise  spot  for  our  halting  to  turn  our  face  to  the  ques- 
tion I  allude  to.  The  matter  of  inquiry  is  this, — How 
can  we  expect  to  find,  in  this  blessed  gospel  mission, 
announced  from  heaven  as  matter  of  rejoicing  unto  all 
people, — and  insuring  results,  the  view  of  which  made 
songs  of  praise  resound  through  upper  worlds, — how,  I 
ask,  can  we  expect  to  find,  in  this  special  economy  of 
grace,  a  revelation  of  infinite,  revengeful  wrath,  to 
21 


242  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

prey  upon  countless  millions  of  souls  immortalized  in 
endless  torments  7  It  is  a  settled  case,  that  if  we  are 
to  find  this  doctrine  in  the  inspired  revelation  at  all, 
we  are  to  find  it  revealed  in  this  gospel  ministry  of 
glad  tidings  to  all  people,  which  filled  angelic  minds 
with  thoughts  of  Heaven^ s  good  will  to  men ! ! 

Be  gentle,  dear  reader : — I  perceive  that  you  will 
turn  your  head  with  horror  at  the  disgusting  incon- 
gruity. The  thought  that  such  an  appalling  doctrine 
should,  as  an  essential  and  distinguishing  constituent, 
peculiarly  belong  to  such  a  glorious  system  of  love,  is 
distracting  to  the  mind  which  has  lived  upon  harmo- 
nies. Such  a  combination  of  theological  parts,  if  it 
were  not  infinitely  more  horrid,  would  be  no  less 
ludicrous  than  the  poet's  description  of  the  incongru- 
ous painter : 

"  Suppose  a  painter  to  a  human  head 
Should  join  a  horse's  neck,  and  wildly  spread 
The  various  plumage  of  a  feathered  kind 
O'er  limbs  of  different  beasts  absurdly  joined ; 

Would  you  not  laugh,  such  pictures  to  behold  ? 
Such  is  the  book,  which,  like  a  sick  man's  dreams, 
Varies  all  shapes,  and  mixes  all  extremes. 

Monstrous  to  mix  the  cruel  and  the  kind, 

Serpents  with  birds,  and  lambs  with  tigers  joined."  ^ 

But  at  the  enormous  incongruity,  which  makes  a 
boundless  world  of  moral  desolation  and  inexhaustible 
anguish  the  revelation  of  the  glad  tidings,  and  of  good 
will  from  Heaven  to  men, — at  this,  I  say,  we  cannot 
laugh.  In  the  language  of  its  eloquent  advocate, 
Saurin,  "It  makes  some  melancholy,  and  others 
mad;"  and  to  thousands  "it  makes  life  itself  a  cruel 

f  Francis'  Horace. 


PURPOSE    OF    THE    SAVIOUr's   MISSION.  243 

bitter."  And  how  can  it  otherwise  affect  the  sensitive 
soul  that  truly  believes  it?  To  feel  the  pressure  of 
infinite  consequences  pending  our  present  doings, 
— "infinite  joy,  or  endless  woe"  =  — to  be  turned  one 
way  or  the  other  to  our  allotment  by  our  every  thought, 
word,  or  deed  in  life, — is  what  no  mind,  grasping  its 
magnitude,  could  endure,  and  be  sane,  for  a  single 
hour.  And  though  there  is  a  theoretic  belief  of  this 
doctrine,  which,  in  some  degree  affects  its  millions, — 
and  though  thousands  have  been  capable  of  realizing 
the  tremendous  hazard,  so  as  to  be  crushed  and  made 
wrecks  by  its  weight, — yet  it  is  a  happy  circumstance 
that  comparatively  few  are  constitutionally  capable  of 
grasping  the  subject. 

St.  Paul  congratulated  his  Christian  brethren,  in 
that  they  had  "not  come  unto  the  mountain  that 
might  be  touched,  and  that  burned  with  fire,  nor  unto 
blackness,  and  darkness,  and  tempest,  and  the  voice  of 
words,  which  voice  they  that  heard  entreated  that  the 
word  should  not  be  spoken  to  them  any  more ;  "  but  that 
they  were  "  come  unto  mount  Sion,  and  imto  the  city  of 
the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem."  But  if  the 
doctrine  which  we  have  now  turned  aside  to  look  upon, 
were  the  genius  of  mount  Sion,  the  contrast  must  have 
been  reversed.  For  I  would  leave  these  mountains  of 
human  divinity,  and  cast  myself  down  at  the  foot  of 
mount  Sinai  with  pleasure.  And  Sinai's  cloud,  which, 
compared  with  the  Christ'ion  gospel,  was  so  black  and 
portentous,  should,  in  comparison  with  this  human 
gospel,  be  as  the  soft  cloud  of  spring  which  varie- 
gates the  sky;  and  Sinai's  thunder,  which  was  com- 
paratively so  fearfully  terrific,  should  be  as  the  mild 
floating  breezes  along  the  green  meadow : — for,  even  our 

g  Watts,  H.  55,  B.  2. 


244  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

opposers  being  judges,  there  was  nothing  revealed  on 
Sinai's  summit,  by  a  million  times  multiplied  without 
end,  so  terrible,  as  the  doctrine  of  immortal  anguish, 
entire  and  hopeless  torments. 

That  this  doctrine  was  not  revealed  under  the  Old 
Testament  dispensation,  was  shov/n  in  the  appropriate 
place,  under  the  penalties  of  the  law.  But  I  will  here 
add,  not  proof,  but  further  evidence  that  I  did  not  per- 
vert the  testimony  in  making  out  the  proof  referred  to. 
One  circumstance  to  this  point  is  the  fact,  that  such  a 
man  as  Professor  Stuart,  the  head  of  the  first  Calvin- 
istic  school  in  our  country,  with  all  his  desire  to  find 
this  doctrine  in  the  Old  Testament,  is  unable  to  put 
his  finger  upon  its  revelation  there.  He  does,  indeed, 
in  his  Exegetical  Essays,  make  an  efibrt  to  palm  this 
doctrine,  in  some  form,  upon  two  or  three  passages  of 
these  Scriptures.  But  the  manner  of  his  doing  this,  sets 
his  entire  want  of  proof  in  a  light  most  strong  and  con- 
clusive. The  method  of  his  argument  is  substantially 
this: — ''Sheol  denotes,  primarily,  the  under-ioorld^  the 
region  of  the  dead^  whither  both  the  righteous  and  the 
wicked  go,  at  their  decease.  And  in  this  sense  it  is 
commonly  used.  Still,  there  are  certain  texts  in  which 
Sheol  occurs,  where  it  may  indeed  be  explained,  as 
usual,  of  the  state  of  the  dead  universally,  but  where 
it  may  also  be  supposed  to  include  the  idea  of  a  place 
of  punishment  there;  that  is,  if  we  first  take  for 
granted  that  the  respective  writers  held  that  there 
was  such  a  place  there.'"" 

What  a  remarkable  argument  is  this,  from  siich  an 
author!  And  how  forcible  is  its  evidence  to  the  point 
before  us !  With  his  deep  penetration,  strong  grasp  of 
intellect,  extensive  learning,  and  irrepressible  desire  to 

h  Stuart's  Essays,  p.  lOG— 114  ;  and  note  in  Uni.  Ex.  v.  3.  p.  412. 


PURPOSE    OF    THE    SAVIOUr's   MISSION.  245 

sustain  the  doctrine  in  question,  he  can  find  no  reve- 
lation of  it  in  the  ancient  Scriptures.  The  most  he 
can  find,  is,  two  or  three  figurative  texts,  where  it 
nmy  he  supposed  that  a  place  of  torment  beyond 
death  is  alluded  to,  if  we  take  for  granted  that  the 
respective  writers  held  there  was  such  a  place  there ! 
So,  then,  these  writers  have  never  revealed  such  a  doc- 
trine. They  have  never  told  us  that  they  held  that 
there  was  such  a  place  in  hades  as  a  place  of  tor- 
ment. We  have  got  to  take  for  granted^  without 
proof,  that  they  held  it,  and  then  we  may  suppose 
fchat  they  included  the  disputed  idea  in  the  texts 
referred  to.  Yain,  then,  has  been  the  learned  Profes- 
sor's search,  in  those  Scriptures,  for  the  doctrine  in 
question. 

I  must  also  present  the  reader,  in  this  place,  with 
the  conclusion  of  the  learned  and  critical  orthodox 
Jahrij  upon  the  same  subject. 

"  That  the  ancient  Hebrews  believed,  that  there  was 
a  difference,  in  their  situation  in  sheol,  between  the 
good  and  the  bad,  although  it  might  indeed  be  inferred 
from  their  ideas  of  the  justice  and  benignity  of  God, 
(Matt.  xxii.  32,)  cannot  be  proved  by  direct  testimony. 
The  probability,  however,  that  this  was  the  case, 
seems  to  be  increased,  when  it  is  remembered,  that 
the  author  of  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes,  who,  in  chap- 
ter iii.  18,  speaks  somewhat  skeptically  of  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  says  in  chapter  xii.  17,  that  the 
^spirit  shall  return  to  God  who  gave  it^''  [and,  although 
he  nowhere  in  express  terms  holds  up  the  doctrine 
of  future  rewards  and  punishments,  informs  us  in 
chapter  xii.  14,  of  something  very  much  like  it,  viz., 
'  That  God  shall  bring  every  loork  into  judgment^ 
with  every  secret  things  lohether  good  or  eviV  "] 
21=* 


246  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

"We  have  not  authority,  therefore,  decidedly  to  say, 
that  any  other  motives  were  held  out  to  the  ancient 
Hebrews  to  pursue  the  good  and  to  avoid  the  evil, 
than  those  which  were  derived  from  the  rewards  and 
punishments  of  this  life.  That  these  were  the  motives 
which  were  presented  to  their  minds,  in  order  to  influ- 
ence them  to  pursue  a  right  course  of  conduct,  is 
expressly  asserted  in  Isa.  xxvi.  9,  10,  and  may  be 
learned  also  from  the  imprecations  which  are  met  with 
in  many  parts  of  the  Old  Testament."  ' 

Finally,  it  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  a  disputed 
point  in  theology,  among  the  learned,  that  endless 
punishment  was  not  revealed  in  the  ancient  oracles 
of  God,  which  he  committed  to  his  chosen  people. 
Of  course,  the  people  of  those  earlier  ages,  including 
the  first  four  thousand  years  of  the  world,  are  not 
to  be  judged  by  a  law  involving  such  a  penalty.  It 
is  contrary  to  all  justice,  human  and  Divine,  to  judge 
a  man  by  an  ex  post  facto  law.  The  earlier  inhabi- 
tants of  the  earth  were  amenable  only  to  the  law 
under  which  they  lived.  If  endless  punishment,  then, 
is  a  constituent  of  the  second  covenant,  or  covenant 
of  grace  !  which  is  a  revelation  of  the  gospel  of  good 
tidings  to  all  people  !  !  none  but  those  whose  lot  it  is 
to  live  in  the  Christian  age,  can  be  exposed  to  its 
terrible  vengeance.  What  a  covenant  were  this,  in 
the  light  of  which  for  the  believers  to  say,  "  For  God 
hath  not  given  us  the  spirit  of  fear,  but  of  power, 
and  of  love,  and  of  a  sound  mind."^  And  if  Sion's 
thunder  were  so  infinitely  more  tremendous  than 
that  of  Sinai,  what  a  wonderful  congratulation  was 
that  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Hebrew  Christians,  that  they 

i  Jahu's  Biblical  Archoeolo,^,  §  111,  3  2  Tim.  i.  7. 


ti 


PURPOSE    OF    THE    SAVIOUr's   MISSION.  247 

had  not  come  unto  the  Sinai  of  their  fathers,  but  that 
they  had  come  unto  Mount  Sion  ! 

But  enough  of  this.  That  merciless  doctrine,  which 
the  learned  who  looiild  find  it,  cannot^  in  the  old  cove- 
nant, forms  no  part  of  the  new.  Therefore  we  will 
return  to  our  subject,  the  purpose  of  the  Saviour's 
mission.] 

And  now  we  are  at  home  again,  returned  from  our 
long  digression,  to  "the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed 
God."  I  was  showing  that  the  mission  of  Jesus  com- 
prises matters  of  joyful  interest  to  the  human  race. 
In  the  same  light  do  the  Saviour's  own  words  abun- 
dantly represent  him.  ''  For  the  Son  of  man  is  come 
to  save  that  which  was  lost.""  And  he  represents  his 
faithfulness  to  be  as  that  of  a  shepherd,  who,  in  pur- 
suit of  the  wandering  of  his  flock,  will  never  relinquish 
his  enterprise,  whiie  there  is  one  lost  sheep  in  the 
wilderness.  He  will  press  on,  to  the  joy  set  before 
him,  the  greeting  of  the  last  poor  wanderer  restored.' 

The  apostles  of  Jesus,  to  whom  he  gave  the  words 
the  Father  had  given  to  him,  abound  in  the  most 
plain  and  unambiguous  testimony  on  the  purpose  of 
God  in  Christ.  I  have  drawn  somewhat  upon  them 
already,  and  shall  not  find  space,  nor  do  I  deem  it 
needful,  to  give  but  a  few  additional  specimens  of 
their  style  of  gospel  witness.  St.  Paul,  in  his  epistle 
to  the  Romans,  (v.  15 — 19,)  represents  the  greatness 
and  extent  of  the  cure,  through  Christ,  of  the  evils 
of  humanity,  by  placing  it  in  comparison  with  those 
evils,  and  giving  it  the  supremacy.  "  But  not  as  the 
offence,  so  also  is  the  free  gift.  For  if,  through  the 
offence  of  one,  many  be  dead ;  much  more  the  grace 
of  God,  and  the  gift  by  grace,  which  is  by  one  man, 

^  Matt,  xviii.  u,  •  Matt,  xviii.  12,  13  ;  Luke  xvi.  4—6. 


248  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

Jesus  Christ,  hath  abounded  unto  many.  *  *  *  * 
Therefore,  as  by  the  offence  of  one,  judgment  came 
upon  all  men  unto  condemnation,  even  so,  by  the 
righteousness  of  one,  the  free  gift  came  upon  all  men 
unto  justification  of  life.  For  as  by  one  man's  dis- 
obedience many  were  made  sinners ;  so  by  the  obe- 
dience of  one  shall  many  be  made  righteous." 

We  are  not  permitted,  by  the  rule  of  Divine  judg- 
ment revealed  in  the  Scriptures,  to  construe  this  as 
meaning  that  the  individual  sins  of  Adam  are  imputed 
to  his  posterity ;  for  it  is  declared  by  Jehovah  that  the 
son  shall  not  be  condemned  for  the  sins  of  the  father.™ 
The  apostle  seems  to  take  a  view  of  mankind  as 
standing  in  the  earthy  or  Adamic  nature,  and  as  all 
being  subject,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  to  the  same 
infirmities  and  evils,  in  that  same  nature.  Then,  on 
the  other  hand,  he  shows  it  to  be  the  plan  of  Divine 
grace  to  bring  about  the  same  effective  and  character- 
istic relation  between  mankind  and  Christ,  or  the  hea- 
venly nature ; — and  to  make  this  relation  equally 
extensive,  and  even  ^nore  productive  of  its  legitimate 
fruits.  To  deny  this  construction,  would  be  to  make 
this  portion  of  the  Record  without  meaning. 

The  same  sentiment  is  expressed  in  Rom.  viii.  20, 
21.  The  passage  was  incidentally  quoted  in  a  former 
part  of  this  section,  but  we  introduce  it  again  for  a 
more  critical  examination.  "For  the  creature  was 
made  subject  to  vanity,  not  wilHngly,  but  by  reason 
of  him  who  hath  subjected  the  same  in  hope ;  be-, 
cause  the  creature  itself  also  shall  be  delivered  from 
the  bondage  of  corruption,  into  the  glorious  liberty  of 
the  children  of  God."  The  term  rendered  creature  in 
this  quotation,  is  the  same  as  that  rendered  creation, 

"^  Ezelc.  xviii. 


249 

in  the  succeeding  verse.  It  is  obviously  used  for  the 
human  species.  It  cannot  mean  less  than  the  entire 
human  species,  because  no  less  than  the  whole  of  this 
creation  was  made  subject  to  vanity,  and  this  word 
is  never  used  to  designate  any  favored  class,  such  as 
believers.  Indeed,  believers  are  distinctly  and  sep- 
arately referred  to  in  the  succeeding  context,  as,  at 
least,  but  a  portion  of  that  creation.  "  For  we  know 
that  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain 
together  until  now.  And  not  only  they,  but  ourselves 
also,  which  have  the  first  fruits  of  the  spirit,  groan 
within  ourselves,  waiting  for  the  adoption,  to  wit,  the 
redemption  of  our  body."  Here,  then,  we  are  certified 
by  the  apostle,  that  by  the  creation  spoken  of  in  this 
case,  he  means  the  whole  creation^  (or  j^'^sa  kiisis, 
every  creature.) 

Again,  nothing  77iore  than  the  human  creation  could 
have  been  meant ;  for  it  comprises  only  such  creatures 
as  "shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corrup- 
tion, into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God." 
It  may  no  more  be  applied  to  brute  and  inanimate 
creatures,  than  may  the  commission  of  our  Lord  to 
his  apostles,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  ev€?ij  creature.'^ 

And  now,  what  is  the  truth  affirmed,  concerning  the 
hmuan  creation?  In  the  first  place,  it  "was  made 
subject  to  vanity," — constituted  mortal,  and  placed 
in  a  peccable  state, — "not  willingly,"  not  of  its  own 
choice ;  the  human  species  were  not  counselled  as  to 
the  constitution  in  which  they  should  be  brought  into 
being,  or  the  world  in  which  they  should  be  placed ; 
— "but  by  reason  of  him  who  hath  subjected  the 
same,  in  hope."  God,  in  his  wisdom,  saw  fit  to  intro- 
duce mankind  into  an  initiatory  state  of  being  like  this 


250  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

— in  hope.  This  is  not  man's  final  home.  This  is 
not  his  chief  inheritance.  He  is  heir  to  an  immortal 
life.  Consequently,  God  has  placed  in  the  very  con- 
stitution of  his  present  being,  a  desire,  a  longing,  a 
travail  of  soul,  a  hope,  reaching  for  that  greater  good 
to  come.  At  verse  19th,  it  is  called  an  ^'■earnest  ex- 
pectation, waiting  for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of 
God," — imnting  a  manifestation  of  that  blessed  truth 
which  was  already  possessed  by  those  who  were 
characteristically  the  sons  of  God.  At  verse  20th,  it 
is  called  hope,  and  at  vei-se  22d,  travail.  All  these 
terms  are  used  to  denote  that  principle  in  the  con- 
stitution of  man,  which  is  the  basis  of  the  religious 
sentiment,  and  which  wants  the  truth  of  Christianity. 

And  why  has  God,  in  placing  his  moral  children  in 
this  dying,  peccable  state,  inwrought  with  their  nature 
the  principles  of  this  hope  7  The  answer  is  before 
us  : — ''  Because  the  creation  shall  be  delivered  from 
the  bondage  of  corruption,  into  the  glorious  liberty 
of  the  children  of  God."  In  the  consummation  of  his 
gospel  purpose,  God  will  show  forth  a  perfect  work, 
— a  moral  creation  in  a  finished  state,  answering  to 
the  designs  indicated  by  the  "hope"  of  their  incipient 
being. 

There  is  a  most  luminous  testimony  of  St.  Paul, 
on  our  present  subject,  in  his  first  epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  which  I  will  reserve  to  a  subsequent 
chapter,  on  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  The  fol- 
lowing to  the  Colossians  (i.  19—21)  is  to  the  point. 
''For  it  pleased  the  Father  that  in  him  should  all 
fulness  dwell ;  and  having  made  peace  through  the 
blood  of  his  cross,  by  him  to  reconcile  all  things  to 
himself;  by  him,  I  say,  whether  they  be  things  in 
earth,   or   things   in   heaven.      yVnd   you,    that   were 


PURPOSE    OF    THE    SAVIOUr's    MISSION.  251 

sometime  alienated,  and  enemies  in  your  mind  by- 
wicked  works,  yet  now  hath  he  reconciled."  That 
the  phrase  all  things^  in  this  case,  refers  not  to  a 
present  visible  church  of  believers,  but  to  the  mass 
of  mankind,  is  evident  from  the  circumstance  that 
the  latter  class  are  said  to  be  now  already  reconciled. 
And  that  the  great  reconciliation  promised,  is  spiritual 
assimilation,  is  shown  by  the  reference  made  to  the 
reconciliation  of  christian  believers,  as  a  sample  of  the 
entire  work  to  be  accomplished. 

Another  most  clear  and  conclusive  witness  to  the 
great  truth  before  us,  is  in  the  following  remarkable 
words  :  (Phil.  ii.  9—11 ;)  "  Wherefore  God  also  hath 
highly  exalted  him,  and  given  him  a  name  which  is 
above  every  name ;  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every 
knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  in 
earth,  and  things  under  the  earth ;  and  that  every 
tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the 
glory  of  God  the  Father."  The  saying.  Every  crea- 
ture above  the  earthy  on  the  earthy  and  under  it,  was  a 
common  periphrasis  among  the  Greek  writers,  for  the 
universe.  The  idea  is,  that  God  designs  that  the  uni- 
verse of  his  moral  creatures,  whether  now  living  or 
dead,  whether  above  the  earth,  on  the  earth,  or  under 
it,  shall  be  brought  into  subjection  to  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ.  And  this  subjection  can  be  no  other  than 
spiritual,  because  Christ  reigns  in  no  other  than  a 
spiritual  kingdom.  And  the  same  kind  of  subjection 
is  involved  in  the  act  of  confessing  him  their  Lord, 
their  Owner  and  Master,  to  the  glory  of  God  the 
Father. 

But  we  should  extend  our  work  to  the  making  of 
many  books,  were  we  to  undertake  the  quotation  and 
exposition  of  one  half  of  the  Bible  testimonies  upon 


252  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

the  great  gospel  purpose.  I  will  barely  add,  in  this 
place,  that  in  confirmation  of  the  view  we  took  of  the 
first  quotation  from  Genesis,  upon  the  bruising  of  the 
serpent's  head,  St.  Paul  says  to  the  Hebrews,  (ii.  14, 
15,)  "Forasmuch  then  as  the  children  are  partakers 
of  fiesli  and  blood,  he  also  himself  likewise  took  part 
of  the  same,  that  through  death  he  might  destroy  him 
that  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is  the  devil ;  and 
deliver  them  who  through  fear  of  death  were  all  their 
lifetime  subject  to  bondage."  The  word  devil  (diabo- 
los)  signifies  an  impostor,  a  deceiver,  an  enemy,  &c. 
It  is  sometimes  used  for  personal  adversaries  and  de- 
ceivers, and  sometimes  for  evil  principles.  In  this 
case  it  seems  to  be  used  as  a  sort  of  personification  of 
the  principles  of  evil,  mcluding  the  physical  with  the 
moral, — whatever  is  adverse  to  the  well-being  of  man. 
All  this  shall  be  destroyed  by  the  energies  of  that 
power  and  love  Divine,  which  are  sealed  and  attested 
by  the  death  of  Christ.  And  again ;  (1  John  iii.  8 ;) 
"For  this  purpose  the  Son  of  God  was  manifested, 
that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil."  These 
works  are  sin,  and  its  concomitant  evils. 

Contemplate,  now,  the  sum  of  what  we  have  learned 
from  the  Scriptures,  of  the  purpose  of  the  Saviour'' s 
mission.  It  is  to  enlighten  the  human  mind,  and  de- 
liver it  from  the  prison  of  moral  darkness, — to  regene- 
rate and  purify  it,  and  deliver  it  from  the  bondage  of 
sin  and  error.  It  is  to  instruct  and  elevate  the  uni- 
verse of  created  minds,  and  reconcile  and  harmonize 
them  with  the  spirit  of  the  Eternal ;  in  the  prosecution 
of  which  work  every  principle  and  power  of  evil  shall 
be  destroyed,  and  the  universe  shall  join  in  the  triumph- 
ant shout  of  the  victory,  the  perfect  victory,  of  life  and 
good.    And  the  designs  of  this  gospel  mission  are  not 


PURPOSE   OF    THE    SAVIOUk's    MISSION.  253 

appropriated  to  any  particular  class  or  denomination  of 
men, — but  they  are  for  man^  for  the  offsj)ring  of  God, 
for  the  kuman  creation. 

To  say  that  all  the  blessings  proposed  by  this  gos- 
pel purpose  are  suspended  on  precarious  conditions  to 
be  performed  by  man,  proposing  that  certain  good 
shall  come  to  the  lot  of  those  who  will  perform  cer- 
tain works  of  obedience,  leaving  it  uncertain  whether 
any  will  comply  with  the  terms, — this  indicates  an 
utter  blindness  of  mind  in  relation  to  the  whole  sub- 
ject. This  gospel  purpose  does  not  propose  certain 
rewards  to  men  on  condition  they  will  be  free  from 
sin,  and  become  holy.  There  is  abundance  of  Scrip- 
ture which  instructs  us  of  the  rewards  of  faith  and 
virtue :  but  this  gospel  purpose  of  grace  looks  upon 
mankind  in  the  character  of  sinners,  and  proposes,  by 
appropriate  means,  to  deliver  them  from  the  love  and 
power  of  sin,  and  win  their  hearts  and  affections  Xo 
truth,  to  holiness,  and  to  God. 

As  this  is  an  important  point  in  the  character  of  the 
Saviour's  mission,  on  which,  in  truth,  its  value  mainly 
depends,  I  will  detain  the  reader  a  few  moments  upon 
it.  I  will  take  him  to  a  portion  of  the  inspired  record, 
which  gives  special  instruction  on  this  very  feature  of 
the  gospel  covenant,  and  places  it  in  contrast  with  the 
law.  The  Scripture  I  refer  to  is  the  eighth  chapter  of 
Hebrews,  beginning  at  the  6th  verse, — from  which  it 
reads  as  follows  : — "  But  noio  hath  he  obtained  a  more 
excellent  ministry^  by  how  much  also  he  is  the  Mediator 
of  a  better  covenant^  which  was  established  upon  better 
promises.  For  if  tha/.  first  covenant  had  been  fatdtless, 
then  should  no  place  have  been  sought  for  the  second. 
For  finding  fault  with  them^  he  saith,  Behold  the  days 
come,  saith  the  Lord^  lohen  I  loill  make  a  new  covenant 
22 


254  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

with  the  house  of  Israel  and  the  house  of  JudahP — 
To  this  contrast  between  the  two  covenantSj  and  the 
distinguish mg  characteristics  of  the  second  on  the 
point  under  present  consideration,  we  will  devote  a 
brief  and  respectful  attention. 

1st.  Wherein  consisted  the  fault  of  the  first  cove- 
nant ?  It  was  not  in  its  unsuitableness  to  answer  the 
end  for  which  God  designed  it.  Some  have  repre- 
sented that  God  designed  the  first  covenant  as  an  op- 
portunity for  man  to  procure,  by  conditions  performed 
by  himself  on  earth,  a  title  to  heaven ;  but  that  it 
failed  to  answer  this  design,  and  so  God  devised  a 
second  plan  for  securing  the  same  object.  But  the 
first  covenant  never  proposed  to  man,  as  the  reward 
of  his  complying  with  its  conditions,  an  immortal  hea- 
ven. To  possess  mankind  of  that  infinite  good  God 
never  devised  but  one  plan,  and  that  is  the  gospel  plan 
whose  character  is  our  present  subject.  This  we  shall 
find  to  be  the  first  and  last,  the  only  plan  devised  of 
God  for  the  accomplishment  of  that  end.  And  this 
plan  shall  never  fail. 

But  the  first  covenant,  which  in  some  respects  was 
faulty,  was  'perfect  in  its  place,  or  in  view  of  the  ends 
for  which  it  was  designed.  It  was,  in  the  first  place, 
designed  in  its  immediate  use,  to  redeem  a  chosen 
people,  and  generally  to  secure  them  as  a  people,  from 
the  popular  idolatries  of  the  world.  All  the  sacrifices 
of  the  Mosaic  ceremonial  law  had  their  meaning  in 
this  respect.  Many  useful  animals,  such  as  cattle, 
sheep,  &c.,  were  worshipped  by  the  Egyptians  and 
other  nations,  as  gods.  The  Hebrews  had  their  edu- 
cation in  the  midst  of  these  idolatries,  and  needed 
some  very  eflicient  means  to  wean  and  preserve  them 
from  the  prevailing  practice. 


PURPOSE    OF    THE    SAVIOUr's    MISSION.  255 

Now  what  could  be  better  calculated  to  wear  off 
these  people's  superstitious  veneration  for  those  idol 
gods,  than  to  habituate  them  to  take  these  same  crea- 
tures after  Avhose  image  those  idols  were  made,  and 
sacrifice  them  as  burnt  offerings  to  the  Lord  Jehovah  7 
As  Moses  said  unto  Pharaoh,  when  he  had  asked  per- 
mission to  go  far  into  the  wilderness  to  offer  sacrifice  to 
God,  and  Pharaoh  refused,  saying,  "  Go  ye,  sacrifice  to 
your  God  in  the  land."  Moses  said,  "It  is  not  meet 
so  to  do,  for  we  shall  sacrifice  the  abomination  of  the 
Egyptians  to  the  Lord  our  God :  Lo,  shall  we  sacrifice 
the  abomination  of  the  Egyptians  before  their  eyes, 
and  will  they  not  stone  us?" 

Indeed,  all  the  ceremonies  of  the  Mosaic  law  had 
either  a  direct  or  indirect  reference  to  some  sinful  and 
idolatrous  practice  of  the  surrounding  heathen  nations, 
against  which  it  was  important  that  Israel  should  be 
guarded,— while  they  indicated  also  the  purity  of 
character  which  the  Hebrews  should  maintain.  And 
he  who  is  well  informed  concerning  the  state  of  the 
Hebrews,  and  of  the  world,  in  those  early  days,— and 
who  considers  that  it  is  suitable  to  the  dignity  of  God 
to  employ  means  adapted  to  circumstances,  and  to  the 
appointed  ends,— will  perceive  that  the  first  covenant 
was  perfectly  fitted  to  the  use  it  was  designed  for, 
in  the  particular  which  has  now  been  noticed. 

In  the  second  place,  the  first  covenant  was  not 
faulty,  in  respect  to  its  adaptedness  to  its  intended  use, 
as  preparatory  to  the  introduction  of  the  new  and 
better  covenant.  It  was  designed  to  keep  up  a  broad 
line  of  distinction  between  the  Jews  and  the  idolatrous 
heathen  nations^  so  as  to  make  that  nation  a  repository 
of  a  series  of  teachings  and  prophesies,  pointing  to  the 
coming  Messiah,  and  preparing  for  the  introduction  and 


256  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

establishment  of  his  more  perfect,  or  rather,  most  per- 
fect system  of  rehgion.  In  this  respect  the  law  is,  as 
St.  Paul  said,  "our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to 
Christ." 

In  what  respect,  then,  was  that  first  covenant  faulty  ? 
It  was  faulty  in  that  it  was  not  adapted  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  all  that  for  mankind,  which  God  designed 
by  some  means  to  do  for  them.  St.  Paul  was  here 
reasoning  with  the  Hebrews,  some  of  whom,  it  ap- 
pears, had  imbibed  the  opinion  that  the  whole  Mosaic 
institution  was  designed  to  be  confirmed  and  perpetu- 
ated under  the  reign  of  the  Messiah.  He  aimed  to 
show  them  that  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  though  good 
in  its  place,  must  be  seen  to  be  faulty  at  once,  when 
proposed  as  a  perpetual  institution  for  all  nations 
and  all  ages.  And  he  urged  upon  them  the  self- 
evident  fact,  that  if  that  covenant  had  not  been 
faulty  in  this  respect, — if  it  had  been  fitted  to  answer 
all  the  purpose  of  good  for  mankind  which  God  had 
designed  for  them, — then  there  should  have  been  no 
place  for  a  second  covenant ;  and  he  referred  them  to 
the  prophet  Jeremiah,  who  prophesied,  saying,  '^  Be- 
hold, the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  when  I  will 
make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel  and 
with  the  house  of  Judah ;  7iot  according  to  the  cove- 
nant which  I  made  with  their  fathers,  in  the  day  when 
I  took  them  by  the  hand  to  lead  them  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt." 

Accordingly,  that  first  covenant  was  faulty,  in  that 
it  was  not  fitted  to  the  completion  of  God's  perfect  work 
of  good  for  mankind.  It  was  designed  for  the  tem- 
porary use  of  a  particular  people;  the  blessings 
which  it  promised  were  of  a  temporal  nature ;  and  its 
promises  were   conditional^  the  bestowment  of  them 


PURPOSE    OF    THE    SAVIOUr's    MISSION.  257 

being  uncertain  according  to  the  uncertainty  of  the 
creature's  faithfulness. 

2d.  In  the  second  place  I  will  point  out  the  specific 
difference  of  the  second  covenant.  This  our  apostle  in 
the  context  pronounces  a  bette?'  covenant^  established  on 
better  promises.     Wherein  is  it  better  7 

First;  it  is  better,  because  it  engages  the  bestowment 
of  better  things.  Now  the  word  covenant  signifies  a 
testament,  a  contract,  or  an  agreement.  It  may  be  an 
agreement  mutually  entered  into  by  two  parties,  its 
performance  depending  equally  on  both.  Or  it  may 
be  an  engagement  which  one  party  takes  on  itself,  un- 
conditionally to  perform  for  the  benefit  of  the  other. 
This  second  covenant  is  an  engagement  which  God 
has  made,  of  his  own  free  grace,  to  bestow  spiritual 
and  immortal  good  on  the  human  race.  Hence  it  is 
said  of  the  gospel,  which  is  the  revelation  of  this  better 
covenant,  testament,  or  engagement  of  the  Lord,  that 
life  and  immortality  are  brought  to  light  by  it. 

Secondly ;  this  second  covenant  is  better,  and  estab- 
lished on  better  promises,  in  that  its  promises  are  un- 
conditional. This  is  a  conspicuous  difference  which  was 
pointed  out  by  the  prophet,  whom  the  apostle  quotes 
in  the  case  before  us.  "I  will  make  a  new  covenant 
with  the  house  of  Israel  and  with  the  house  of  Judah, 
not  according  to  the  covenant  which  I  made  with  their 
fathers,  because  they  continued  not  in  my  covenant, 
and  I  regarded  them  not,  saith  the  Lord."  Here  the 
fact  is  noted,  that  even  the  temporal  blessings  which 
were  proposed  to  the  people  by  that  first  covenant, 
Avere  not  always  enjoyed  by  them,  because  the  bless- 
ings were  proposed  on  conditions  which  they  failed  to 
perform.  And  the  circumstance  that  the  people  failed 
of  enjoying  even  the  full  blessings  proposed  by  the  first 
22^ 


258  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

covenant,  through  their  own  faHibihty, — this  circum- 
stance, I  say,  being  offered  by  Jehovah  as  an  impor- 
tant reason  why  he  would  secure  those  better  blessings 
which  he  designed  for  them,  by  a  covenant  not  like 
the  former,  certainly  directs  our  attention  to  the  article 
of  conditionality ^  as  the  point  of  difierence  specially 
referred  to  in  this  place.  It  notifies  us  that  the  new 
covenant  should  not  be  subject  to  any  faultiness  or 
failure,  in  regard  to  the  final  communication  of  its 
promised  blessings  to  mankind,  through  their  not 
xDolking  in  it.  And  the  fact  of  which  we  are  hereby 
notified,  is  clearly  seen  in  the  terms  of  the  covenant 
itself,  which  here  follows:  "For  this  is  the  covenant 
which  i  will  make  with  the  house  of  Israel,  after  those 
days,  saith  the  Lord;  I  will  put  my  laws  in  their  mind, 
and  write  them  in  their  hearts ;  and  I  will  be  to  them 
a  God,  and  they  shall  be  to  me  a  people:  and  they 
shall  not  teach  every  man  his  neighbor,  and  every 
man  his  brother,  saying,  Know  the  Lord;  for  all 
shall  know  me,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest;  for 
I  will  be  merciful  to  their  unrighteousness ;  and  their 
sins  and  their  iniquities  will  I  remember  no  more." 

It  is  hence  made  to  appear,  beyond  controversy,  that 
this  new  covenant  is  an  unconditional  engagement 
which  God  has  made,  of  himself,  in  his  own  free 
grace,  to  confer  the  needed  benefit  of  salvation  on  his 
moral  creatures.  God  here  publishes  his  positive  en- 
gagement of  what  he  will  do,  or  will  bring  his  crea- 
tures to  be  and  to  do. 

But  I  will  caution  my  readers,  that  none  of  you  leave 
this  subject,  with  the  impression,  that  this  new  cove- 
nant engages  to  bless  mankind  in  their  sins.  It  recog- 
nizes the  necessity  of  your  being  holy  in  order  to  be 
happy,  as  much  as  the  law  does.     But  the  difference 


PURPOSE    OF    THE    SAVIOUr's    MISSION.  259 

is  in  this, — that  while  the  law  commands  men  to  be 
holy,  but  is  not  an  engagement  to  make  them  so,  the 
new  covenant  is  the  free  testament  of  God,  whereby 
he  engages  to  employ  and  direct  means  to  make  men 
holy.  It  has  been  shown  that,  of  the  Mediator,  or 
Executor  of  this  new  and  better  covenant,  God's  angel 
said,  "He  shall  save  his  people  from  their  sms." 
"For  this  purpose  was  the  Son  of  God  manifested, 
that  he  might  destroy  the  Avorks  of  the  devil,"  and 
"  reconcile  all  things  unto  himself"  To  inquire,  there- 
fore, by  way  of  objection,  whether  men  can  be  saved, 
if  they  will  never  love  God,  and  be  holy,  would  only 
be  to  inquire,  whether  men  can  be  saved,  if  God 
should  not,  according  to  the  better  promises  of  his  bet- 
ter covenant,  save  them?  We  have  only  to  answer, 
in  the  words  of  the  apostle,  Let  God  be  true. 

But  it  is  the  wonder  of  the  world, — a  stumbling- 
block  to  the  Jews,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness, — that 
GOD  should  institute  a  purpose  and  prosecute  a  gov- 
ernment, in  relation  to  the  future  character  and  condi- 
tion of  moral  accountable  beings.  "Surely,"  it  is 
objected,  "  God  will  not  force  sinners  to  be  saved, 
whether  they  will  or  not ! "  No,  no ;  there  is  no  such 
absurdity  in  the  Divine  system  of  operation.  The 
Creator  of  the  physical  world  is  also  the  Author  of 
the  human  nmid.  It  is  his  workmanship.  Its  moved 
agency  is  his  workmanship.  It  is  "a  wheel  within  a 
wheel,"  placed  there  by  the  Author,  not  to  defeat  his  de- 
sign in  the  whole,  but  to  promote  his  benevolent  plan. 
Man  could  not  be  man, — he  could  not  become  the  holy, 
happy  being  intended,  without  this  accountable  agency. 
But  the  Creator  of  mind  perfectly  well  knows  his  work. 
He  knows  its  spring  of  action,  and  by  what  influences 
its  motions  may  be  governed.     And  He  who  rolls  the 


260  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

spheres  in  their  orbits,  and  who  governs  the  "free 
winds,"  by  touching  the  causes  that  regulate  their 
motions,  can  also  accomplish  his  great  purpose,  in  the 
universe  of  mind,  without  violence  to  the  established 
moral  principles  and  laws. 

When  God  has  revealed  to  men  his  laws  of  com- 
mandment, touching  their  moral  duty,  they  have  often 
transgressed,  and  subjected  themselves  to  the  conse- 
quent punishment.  But  when  he  has  revealed  any 
purpose  of  his  own,  even  relating  to  the  character  and 
condition  of  moral  agents,  such  purpose  has  never 
failed.  He  said  long  beforehand  to  Abraham,  ''  Thy 
seed  shall  be  a  stranger  in  a  land  that  is  not  theirs ; 
and  they  shall  afflict  them  four  hundred  years.  And 
that  nation  whom  they  shall  serve  will  I  judge ;  and 
afterwards  shall  they  come  out  with  great  sub- 
stance." "  There  Avere  thousands  of  free  moral  agen- 
cies (using  the  word  free  for  voluntary)  connected 
with  these  events.  Unbelief  would  ask,  "  what  if  the 
people  would  not  go  into  the  strange  land  referred  to  ? 
Or,  if  they  should  go  there,  what  if  the  authorities  of 
that  land  would  never  afflict  them?  They  will  not 
afflict  them  imless  they  are  disposed  to  do  so;  and 
what  7/they  should  not  indulge  that  disposition?  Or, 
if  they  should  afflict  them,  what  if  the  Hebrews 
would  not  consent  to  go  out?"  Such,  I  say,  would 
be  the  language  of  unbelief  Such  are  the  inquiries, 
or  rather  arguments,  by  which  we  are  often  met  in 
our  christian  labors.  We  present  the  word  of  God 
affirming  his  purpose  of  grace  in  Christ ;  and  the  ob- 
jector arrays  his  army  of  ifs  against  us.  "  What  if 
the  people  will  never  consent  to  this  revealed  arrange- 
ment of  Johovah?  " 

nGen.  XV.  13,  14. 


PURPOSE    OF    THE    SAVIOUr's   MISSION.  261 

But  had  Abraham  any  misgivings  here?  No.  Abra- 
ham believed  God^  and  it  was  counted  unto  him  for 
righteousness.""  And  how  was  the  event?  In  due 
time  Godj  in  his  providence,  brought  about  such  cir- 
cumstances affecting  Abraham's  progeny,  that  they 
saw  it  to  be  their  hfe  to  go  down  into  Egypt.  A 
desolating  dearth  prevailed  in  Canaan ;  a  message  was 
received  through  Joseph,  from  the  sovereign  of  Egypt, 
bidding  them  welcome  to  the  best  of  the  land  of 
plenty ;  and  they  consented,  they  chose,  they  desired 
to  go  there.  When  they  had  abode  there  for  a  season, 
and  Joseph  and  Pharaoh  were  dead,  and  another  king 
arose  who  knew  not  Joseph,  he  looked  with  jealousy 
on  their  growth  and  enterprise,  and  fearing  their 
rivalry,  he  oppressed  them  with  burdens.  In  this  he 
deliberately  acted  his  own  choice,  believing  he  might, 
by  oppression,  dwarf  their  energies,  and  hold  them  in 
servitude.  But  at  length  their  burdens  became  intol- 
erable, and  they  sighed  for  freedom.  The  Lord 
raised  them  up  a  leader,  and  opened  a  way  before 
them;  and  they  went  out  with  a  desiring  mind,  and 
with  much  substance. 

Thus  all  these  events,  with  which  so  many  thou- 
sands of  moral  agencies  were  connected,  transpired 
with  the  voluntary  action  of  those  accountable  agents, 
— and  also  according  to  the  Divine  arrangement  made 
known  to  Abraham  hundreds  of  years  before  ! 

Saul  of  Tarsus  is  an  instructive  illustration  of  this 
important  principle.  He  was  raving  on  his  way,  in  the 
spirit  of  war  and  violence  against  the  cause  of  Christ. 
Jesus  met  him,  and  at  the  light  of  his  glory  the  perse- 
cutor fell  upon  the  ground.  He  was  put  upon  his 
reflections  by  the  majestic  voice  of  love,  ''  Saul,  Saul, 

°Rom.  iv.  3. 


262  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

Avhy  persecutest  thou  me  7  "  "  Who  art  thou,  Lord  ?  " 
the  Pharisee  inquired,  ''  I  am  Jesus,  whom  thou  per- 
secutest." ''Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?" 
Here  he  is — not  forced,  whether  he  will  or  not, — but 
desiriiig  to  serve  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  Jesus 
said  to  him  at  the  time,  "I  have  appeared  unto  thee 
for  this  purpose."  What !  ^inirpose  to  accomplish  on 
a  free  moral  agent?  Yes, — ''I  have  appeared  unto 
tliee  for  this  inuyoseP  And  what  is  the  purpose? 
"  To  make  thee  a  minister  and  a  witness  of  me." '' 
What  an  instrument  was  he,  all  in  his  mad  career, 
with  intent  to  exterminate  the  christian  cause  from 
earth,  for  Jesus  to  select,  and  meet  there  upon  the 
way,  to  change  into  a  cheerful  and  loving  minis- 
ter of  his  truth !  It  was  the  gnarliest  stick  in  the 
moral  wilderness,  that  Jesus  chose,  to  work  up,  that 
very  day,  into  the  beautiful  spiritual  temple.  Did  he 
succeed?  He  did  so,  With  all  the  ease  with  which 
the  rising  beams  of  the  morning  dispel  the  dark  shades 
of  night,  did  the  sweet  light  of  Jesus  dispel  the  dark- 
ness of  that  madman's  soul,  and  enhst  his  moral 
affections  into  his  love  and  service. 

And  when,  in  the  fulness  of  times  foretold,  the  face 
of  the  covering  shall  be  taken  away  from  over  all 
people,  and  the  sweet  light  of  heavenly  truth  and  love 
shall  shine  into  every  mind, — then,  because  they  are 
free  moral  agents,  and  xoill  love  what  appears  to  them 
supremely  lovely,  and  nothing  in  the  universe  can 
hinder  it,  will  they  all  love  and  adore  the  eternal 
Father,  "  and  enjoy  him  forever." 

Such,  then,  is  the  purpose  of  the  Saviour's  mission, 
and  the  harmony  of  its  operation  with  the  constitution 

PActs  xxvi.  4 — 20. 


PURPOSE    OF    THE    SAVIOUr's    MISSION.  263 

and  laws  of  our   moral  being.     We  see  in  it  the  per- 
fect and  unfailing  wisdom  and  ability  of  God, — 

"  From  seeming  evil  still  educing  good, 
And  better  thence  again,  and  better  still, 
In  infinite  progression." 

OBJECTIONS. 

1st.  But  it  is  objected,  that  salvation  is  sometimes 
represented  in  the  Scriptures  as  a  reward,  to  be  be- 
stowed on  the  condition  of  faith  in  the  gospel.  Jesus, 
for  instance,  in  his  last  commission  to  his  apostles 
before  his  ascension,  said  unto  them,  ''Go  ye  into  all 
the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  unto  every  creature. 
He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved ;  but 
he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned."  "^  This  latter 
clause  has  been  taken  by  some  to  declare  the  very 
gospel  itself  which  the  disciples  should  preach.  The 
passage  has  been  quoted,  even  by  some  learned  men, 
in  the  following  manner : — "Jesus  said  unto  his  dis- 
ciples, '  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature,  saying,  he  that  believeth  and  is 
baptized  shall  be  saved,  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall 
be  damned.'  "  But  if  the  saying,  "  He  that  believeth 
shall  be  saved" — is  the  gospel  which  was  to  be 
preached,  may  we  not  ask,  he  that  believeth  tvhat? 
What  is  it,  by  the  belief  of  which  we  shall  be  saved, 
and  for  the  disbelief  of  which  we  shall  be  condemned'? 
It  is  the  gospel.  And  what  is  the  gospel?  Those 
just  referred  to  would  answer,  "It  is  this:  'He  that 
believeth  shall  be  saved,  but  he  that  believeth  not 
shall  be  damned.'  "  We  repeat  the  inquiry,  He  that 
believeth  what  ? 

^Mark  xvi.  15.  16. 


264  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

Suppose  I  enter  a  room,  in  which  are  assembled  a 
company  of  my  readers,  and  say  to  you,  ''  I  come  to 
communicate  important  tidings."  Turning  with  eager 
desire,  you  ask  with  one  accord,  ''  What  is  the  news?" 
I  gravely  answer,  ''  Those  of  you  who  believe  it,  shall 
receive  a  signal  favor,  and  those  who  believe  not  shall 
suffer  deprivation."  "  Those  who  beheve  what  .^"  you 
would  ask  with  emphasis.  And  if  I  were  to  continue 
reiterating  the  same  answer,  you  would  take  me  for 
either  a  trifler  or  a  madman.  I  should  first  communi- 
cate the  proposed  tidings,  the  truth  to  be  believed :  and 
then  it  would  be  in  season  to  talk  of  the  effects  of  your 
believing  or  not  believing. 

So  in  the  case  before  us.  The  Saviour  did  not,  in 
this  instance,  make  a  statement  to  the  disciples  of 
what  the  gospel  was.  They  had  been  with  him  from 
the  time  when  he  called  them  to  his  service,  and  had 
learned  of  him  the  subject  matter  of  his  gospel  mis- 
sion ;  and  he  promised  to  send  them  the  Holy  Spirit, 
to  farther  lead  them  into  all  truth.  He  had  told  them 
before,  not  to  go  in  the  way  of  the  Gentiles,  but  only 
to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.  But  now  he 
had  "offered  himself  once  for  all,"  and  broken  down 
the  middle  wall  of  partition  between  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles ;  and  he  enlarged  the  sphere  of  their  ministry,  say- 
ing, "  Go  ye  into  all  the  loorld^  and  preach  the  gospel, 
(the  glad  tidings  of  truth  into  which  I  have  taught 
you,)  to  every  creature.''^  And  then  he  proceeds,  not 
to  instruct  them  again  into  the  revelations  of  that  gos- 
pel which  they  were  to  preach,  but  to  describe  the 
consequences  which  should  result  to  the  people,  ac- 
cordingly as  they  should  treat  the  apostolic  message. 
"  He  that  believeth  shall  be  saved."  That  is,  the  true 
believer   should   enjoy,  as  the  legitimate  fruit  of  his 


PURPOSE   OF   THE   SAVIOUr's    MISSION.  265 

faithj  salvation  from  the  moral  darkness,  the  hopeless- 
ness, the  guilt,  the  fears,  and  all  the  evils  of  an  unbe- 
lieving and  sinful  state ;  while  the  unbeliever  should 
remain,  as  a  prisoner  under  condemnation,  in  the  suf- 
fering of  all  those  evils. 

This  sense  of  the  Saviour's  use  of  the  word  saved^ 
in  the  foregoing  case,  is  beautifully  explained  by  St. 
Paul  in  his  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians.  He  was  an 
unbeliever  for  a  long  time  after  the  date  of  this  dec- 
laration of  Jesus,  "  He  that  believeth  not  shall  be 
damned."  At  length  he  received  the  gospel  by  a  liv- 
ing faith,  and  became  a  faithful  teacher  of  it.  When 
he  had,  by  his  personal  ministry,  established  a  church 
of  believers  in  Corinth,  he  heard  of  some  misunder- 
standing among  them  on  certain  essential  points  of 
Christian  doctrine,  especially  that  of  the  resurrection. 
Therefore  he  wrote  them  letters  on  the  gospel  theme, 
and  other  matters  of  interest  to  them.  In  his  first 
letter  he  says, — "Moreover,  brethren,  I  declare  unto 
you  the  gospel  which  I  preached  unto  you,  which 
also  ye  have  received,  and  wherein  ye  stand ;  by 
which  also  ye  are  saved,  if  ye  keep  in  memory  what 
I  preached  unto  you,  unless  ye  have  believed  in  vain.'" 
How  completely  this  explains  and  confirms  the  saying 
of  Jesus,  when  he  commissioned  his  disciples  to  go  out 
and  preach  the  gospel,  that  they  who  would  receive 
their  message,  shoidd  he  saved  in  their  faith.  The 
brethren  whom  the  apostle  addressed  had  believed  the 
gospel,  and,  they  loere  saved,  by  the  legitimate  influ- 
ence of  the  gospel  upon  their  minds. 

So,  then,  the  gospel  is  not  a  declaration  of  the  fruits 
of  faith  and  unbelief,  but  it  is  the  revelation  of  the 
truth  to  be  believed.     It  is  the  subject  matter  upon 

M  Cor.  XV.  1,2. 

23 


266  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

which  for  faith  to  act.  Consequently,  it  is  not  made 
true  by  the  belief,  nor  false  by  the  disbelief  of  man. 
It  is,  as  we  have  most  clearly  exhibited  in  the  course 
of  this  chapter,  the  revelation  of  that  grand  and  stu- 
pendous purpose  of  grace  in  the  moral  system  of  God's 
creation,  which  shall  work,  and  overturn,  and  reform, 
until  the  last  vestige  of  unbelief  itself  shall  be  over- 
come, and  the  light  and  spirit  of  God  shall  be  all  in 
all.  Of  this  revealed  plan  the  apostle  says,  "  But 
what  if  some  did  not  believe  ?  Shall  their  unbelief 
make  the  faith  (the  promise)  of  God  without  effect  ? 
God  forbid.""  But  unbelief  shuts  man  out  of  the  en- 
joyment of  the  truth,  while  he  abides  in  it.  For  so  it 
is  written,  "  He  that  belie veth  not  the  Son  shall  not 
see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him." '  The 
wrath  of  God  is  the  condemnatory  operation  of  his 
law  upon  transgressors,  under  the  action  of  which  St. 
Paul  had  his  part,  when  he  was  among  those  who  were 
•'children  of  wrath,  even  as  others.""  Again,  ''He 
that  believeth  on  him  is  not  condemned ;  (the  same  in 
the  original  as  the  word  damned  in  the  other  passage ;) 
but  he  that  believeth  not  is  condemned  {damned) 
already. — And  this  is  the  condemnation,  that  light 
is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  have  loved  darkness 
rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds  are  evil." "  But 
"he  that  receiveth  my  word,  and  believeth  on  him 
that  sent  me,  hath  everlasting  life,  and  shall  not  come 
into  condemnation,  but  is  passed  from  death  unto 
hfe."^' 

There  is  a  marked  distinction  kept  up  throughout 
the  Scriptures,  as  there  is  such  distinction  in  fact, 
between  the  character  and  condition  of  the  virtuous 

»  Rom.  iii.  3,  4.  t  John  iii.  36.  "  Eph.  ii.  3. 

"  John  iii.  18,  19.  ^  John  v.  24. 


PURPOSE   OF   THE    SAVIOUr's   MISSION.  267 

and  vicious,  the  believer  and  the  disbeliever.  While 
the  wages  of  sin  is  death,  the  fruit  of  faith  and  obe- 
dience is  life,  salvation  and  peace.  But  there  is  not 
the  least  shade  of  discrepancy  between  this  Scriptural 
and  experimental  fact,  and  the  triumphant  faith  of 
God's  purpose  in  Christ,  to  win  the  hearts  and  affec- 
tions of  his  great  family  to  himself. 

2d.  Again,  it  is  objected,  "that  all  men  are  not 
reconciled  to  God  in  the  present  life ;  many  die  in 
impenitence ;  and  we  have  no  ground  to  hope  for  the 
enlightenment  of  the  blind,  the  instruction  of  the 
ignorant,  and  the  renovation  of  the  sinful,  in  the 
future  life." 

This  objection  is  founded  on  the  prevailing  senti- 
ment, that  this  mortal  life  is  distinctly  and  peculiarly 
a  day  of  probation  for  eternity ;  and  that  the  eternal 
states  of  all  the  human  race  are  to  be  decided  by  the 
characters  formed  in  time.  But  there  is  not  the  slight- 
est foundation  in  the  Scriptures  for  such  a  sentiment, 
and  nothing  could  be  more  absurd  in  the  eye  of  reason. 
Elevate  yourself  in  thought  to  some  lofty  position,  from 
which  you  can  view  the  entire  face  of  the  globe.  Look, 
then,  with  a  searching  and  contemplative  eye,  upon 
the  whole  human  race  in  this  mortal  state  of  being. 
See,  in  one  section,  tribes  ushered  into  being  under 
circumstances  of  the  most  utter  destitution  of  moral 
advantages,  opening  their  eyes  from  infancy  upon  the 
most  low  and  degrading  idolatries,  and  growing  up 
under  the  influence  of  examples  the  most  corrupt  and 
debasing.  In  another  place  the  child  is  surrounded 
with  circumstances  of  favor,  and  is  trained  up  by  the 
precepts  and  examples  of  virtue  and  truth.  And  look ; 
there  are  tens,  hundreds,  and  millions,  of  tender  in- 
fants, whose  life  passeth  away  as  the  dew  of  the  morn- 


268  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

iiigj  and  they  tarry  not  to  do  good  or  evil.  They  have 
formed  no  character  here — and  shall  they  have  none 
in  eternity  ?  They  have  deserved  neither  reward  nor 
punishment ;  and  shall  they,  therefore,  neither  enjoy 
good  nor  suffer  evil  in  eternity  ?  If  you  say  they  shall 
be  eternally  blessed  by  the  good  favor  of  God,  you 
explode  your  doctrine,  as  applied  to  more  than  one 
half  of  the  human  race,  of  making  the  mortal  life  a 
state  of  probation  for  the  rewards  of  eternity. — And 
look  !  There  is  a  beautiful  little  lad,  whose  filial  love 
and  cheerful  smiles  delight  the  fond  hearts  of  his  doat- 
ing  parents.  Yesterday,  he  attained  to  an  accountable 
age  in  the  moral  government  of  God.  To-day  he  has 
committed  some  juvenile  error ;  and  now,  the  furious 
steed  tramples  over  him,  and  the  wheel  crushes  him. 
He  expires.  Must  eternity  be  to  him  an  inheritance 
of  wailing  and  sorrow  ? — But  yonder  is  a  different 
scene.  A  youth  is  treading  the  paths  of  vice  and  folly. 
He  slights  all  the  counsels  of  wisdom,  scorns  reproof, 
and  sinks  deeper  and  deeper  into  moral  defilement. 
He  advances  in  age  and  in  sin,  until  he  is  old  and  grey 
in  years.  At  length  he  becomes  guilty  of  crimes  the 
very  thought  of  which  alarms  him ;  he  is  brought  to 
reflection  and  repentance,  and  soon  drops  into  the 
grave.  Shall  he  claim  an  eternity  of  bliss  on  the  score 
of  reward  for  his  earthly  deeds  ? — In  short,  when  you 
take  this  comprehensive  view  of  the  case  of  man  on 
earth,  noting  the  various  terms  of  time  which  are 
allotted  to  this  mortal  life,  from  a  moment  to  a  hun- 
dred years, — and  the  different  circumstances  under 
which  they  live,  including  every  grade  of  privilege, 
from  the  most  advantageous  to  almost  none,  or  even 
to  the  most  pernicious  precepts  and  examples, — and 
also  the  variety  of  temperaments,  and  passions,  and 


269 

cerebral  conformations  for  the  development  of  mind, 
— what,  to  reason's  eye,  could  appear  more  prepos- 
terous, than  the  position  that  this  is  the  state,  and  the 
07ily  state,  which  the  great  and  wise  Father  of  all  has 
appropriated  to  his  children,  to  form  characters  for 
eternity  7     It  is  impossible. 

In  saying  this,  we  speak  with  reverence  for  the 
Scriptures,  as  well  as  for  common  sense.  For  the 
objectionable  sentiment  is  no  less  repugnant  to  the 
inspired  word  of  truth.  There  were  a  few  fabricated 
texts  of  Scripture  formerly  applied  to  this  subject, 
which  are  now  out  of  date.  One  of  these  was  made 
to  say,  "  There  is  no  repentance  beyond  the  grave ;" 
and  another,  "As  death  leaves  us  so  judgment  v/ill 
find  us."  The  first  is  a  glossary  on  the  words  of 
Solomon,  (Eccl.  ix.  10,)  "  For  there  is  no  work,  nor 
device,  nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom  in  the  grave, 
(hades)  whither  thou  goest."  This  is  an  expression 
of  the  silence  and  inactivity  of  hades^  the  state  of  the 
dead ;  but  it  has  no  reference  to  the  condition  of  that 
immortal  life  which  is  brought  to  light  through  the 
gospel.  Surely  he  did  not  mean  that  there  will  be  no 
knowledge  nor  wisdom  in  that  blest  world.  The 
other  passage,  "As  death  leaves  us  so  judgment  will 
find  us,"  was  conceived,  we  know  not  how,  as  an 
idea  belonging  to  the  words  of  the  same  writer,  in 
Eccl.  xi.  3;  "If  the  tree  fall  towards  the  south,  or 
towards  the  north,  in  the  place  where  the  tree  falleth, 
there  it  shall  be."  But  no  ingenuity  can  show  the 
application  of  this  language  to  the  future  life  of  man. 
If  you  insist  on  applying  the  fall  of  the  tree  to  the 
death  of  man,  you  will  make  the  saying,  ^^  in  the  place 
where  it  falleth  there  it  shall  ^e,"  to  deny  the  resur- 
23* 


270  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

rection.     But  these  words  of  Solomon  had  no  such 
reference. 

And  now,  I  ask,  what  reason  have  any  to  assume, 
that  the  eternal  state  of  existence  is  a  mere  monotony  ? 
that  passing  out  of  this  momentary,  infantile  state, 
into  one  immortal,  undying,  men  pass  beyond  the 
bounds  of  intellectual  and  moral  improvement  ?  We 
urge  the  inquiry,  Where  is  the  authority  for  so  un- 
divine,  and  unphilosophical  an  assumption  ?  And 
echo  answers,  "  Where  ?" 

Will  not  mankind  be  moral  beings  in  the  future 
world  1  Will  they  not  be  possessed  of  moral  powers 
and  perceptions,  of  capacities  to  judge  between  right 
and  wrong,  and  to  appreciate  the  difference  between 
them  1  If  not,  then  they  cannot  be  subjects  of  con- 
demnation there.  The  improved  theology  of  orthodox 
schools,  makes  the  punishment  of  the  future  world  to 
consist  in  guilt,  remorse,  and  shame,  on  account  of 
sins  committed  on  earth.  Then  the  subjects  of  such 
punishment  will  be  moral  beings,  capable  of  repen- 
tance and  moral  reform.  If  they  suffer  guilt,  shame, 
and  regret,  for  having  sinned  against  their  heavenly 
Father,  then  there  is  a  principle  in  their  moral  natures 
at  war  with  sin,  and  capable  of  loving  and  choosing 
holiness.  If  they  were  possessed  of  natures  radically 
evil,  utterly  opposed  to  God,  like  that  of  fabled  de- 
mons, loving  all  evil  and  hating  all  good, — Avith  such 
natures  they  would  not  suffer  shame  or  regret  for  their 
sins.  If  their  recollection  of  the  past  should  trouble 
them  at  all,  it  would  be  that  they  had  not  sinned 
more  inveterately  here,  against  the  God  they  hate  so 
radically  there. 

Hence  it  is  seen,  that  for  the  very  purpose  of  creat- 
ing a  future  hell  for  sinners,  the  schools  have  indued 


PURPOSE    OF    THE    SAVIOUr's   MISSION.  271 

it  with  principles  which  shall  work  its  destruction. 
For  if  man  possesses  such  a  moral  nature,  that,  away 
from  temptations  to  other  wrongs,  he  so  truly  appre- 
ciates the  right,  as  to  be  ashamed  of  the  wrong,  and 
filled  with  regret  for  past  sins,  he  will  certainly  reject 
the  wrong,  and  love  and  choose  the  right. 

And  this  is  not  only  the  philosophy,  the  principles 
of  which  have  found  way  into  the  scholastic  creeds, 
but  it  is  Christian  philosophy.  God  will  not  clothe 
men  with  his  own  immortality,  and  crown  them  with 
his  eternity,  for  a  vain  and  useless  purpose.  When 
they  are  raised  into  a  spiritual,  immortal  state,  their 
circumstances  will  be,  of  necessity,  far  more  advan- 
tageous for  moral  improvement,  than  in  the  present 
life.  They  will  be  freed,  to  say  the  least,  from  a 
large  share  of  the  temptations  and  mistakes  of  the 
present  mortal  world, — their  organization  will  be  more 
perfect, — they  will  be  free  from  those  sicknesses  and 
wants  which  were  the  cause  of  much  unreconciliation 
here, — and  they  will  bear  with  them,  in  the  very  fact 
of  the  resurrection  life,  demonstrative  proof  of  glorious 
truths,  touching  the  existence,  and  perfections,  and 
government,  and  purposes  of  God,  which  their  gross 
perceptions  did  not  grasp  in  their  earthly  house  of 
clay. 

And  there,  too,  will  Jesus  be  found,  the  Resurrec- 
tion and  the  Life.  The  testimonies  of  his  mission 
limit  not  his  work  to  the  mortal  hour  of  human  being. 
He  is  to  prosecute  his  work  to  its  accomplishment,  in 
the  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  times.  And  he  is  to 
gather  together  into  the  harmony  of  his  own  spirit, 
and  reconcile  to  God,  all  things,  whether  now  living 
or  dead,  whether  above  the  earth,  on  the  earth,  or 
under  it.     Then  will  he  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul 


272  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

and  be  satisfied.  Then,  in  the  full  triumph  of  that  love 
which  sustained  him,  when  he  tasted  death  for  every 
man,  his  ransomed  possession,  beatified  and  blessed, 
will  he  present  before  his  Father  and  our  Father,  his 
God  and  our  God,  saying,  "  Behold  I,  and  the  chil- 
dren which  thou  gavest  me."* 

»  Heb.  ii.  13. 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE  CHRIST    OF   THE    NEW   TESTAMENT,   THE    MESSIAH   OF 
THE    OLD. 

When  Philip  had  become  a  follower  of  the  Son  of 
Mary,  he  found  Nathanael,  and  said  unto  him,  "  We 
have  found  him  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law  and  the  jwo- 
phets  did  write^  *  We  have  already  treated  somewhat 
largely  on  the  person,  the  character,  and  the  mission 
of  Christ.  And  it  was  meet  that  we  should  do  so,  for 
CHRIST  IS  CHRISTIANITY,  and  Christianity  is 
our  hope.  And  now  I  propose  to  present  the  relation 
of  Jesus  to  the  ancient  prophecies,  as  an  invaluable 
species  of  evidence  for  the  truth  of  Christianity. 

I.  That  the  Jews  had  among  them  a  long  succes- 
sion of  reputed  prophets,  it  would  be  a  work  of  super- 
erogation for  me  to  argue.  I  am  not  aware  that  this  is 
a  disputed  matter.  The  fact  is  everywhere  visible 
upon  the  face  of  the  Scriptures,  which  are  the  accredited 
records  of  the  Jewish  nation.  Nor  does  it  appear  to  be 
any  less  obvious,  that  these  reputed  prophets  prophe- 
sied of  the  coming  of  an  important  personage,  called 
the  Messiah,  and  peculiarly  the  Sent  of  God.  Different 
appellations,  however,  in  the  course  of  these  prophe- 
cies, are  ascribed  to  the  expected  One, — and  the  de- 
scriptions of  character  vary  in  verbal  expressions,  ac- 
cording to  the  different  names  under  which  he  is  pre- 
sented. 

Moses  prophesied  of  the  One  who  was  to  come,  in 
the  following  terms;— "The  Lord  thy  God  will  raise 

a  John  i.  45. 


274  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

up  unto  thee  a  prophet  from  the  midst  of  thee,  of  thy 
brethren,  Hke  unto  me:  unto  him  shall  ye  hearken."^ 
The  prophet  here  promised  was  not  Joshua,  Moses' 
successor  in  office ;  for  the  historian  who  finished  out 
the  book  of  Deuteronomy  after  Moses'  death,  speaks 
of  Joshua,  and  writes  as  a  witness  of  his  acts ;  but  he 
adds,  "And  there  arose  not  a  prophet  since  in  Israel 
hke  unto  Moses,  whom  the  Lord  knew  face  to  face."" 
(The  saying  that  the  Lord  knew  Moses  face  to  face, 
simply  denotes  that  he  granted  to  him  the  favor  of  a 
free  and  familiar  intercourse,  for  the  purposes  of 
his  calling.)  Neither  was  this  promised  teacher 
either  of  the  other  prophets  that  came  under  the  Old 
Testament  dispensation.  They  all  pointed  on,  beyond 
themselves,  to  the  great  Prophet  and  Teacher,  Prince 
and  Deliverer,  that  was  to  come.  It  was  with  regard 
to  them,  as  it  was  said  of  John  the  Baptist,  "  He  was 
not  that  Light,  but  was  sent  to  bear  witness  of  that 
Light."  None  of  these  prophets  claimed  to  be  the 
Messiah,  but  they  all  spake  of  him  as  being  yet  to 
come  after  them. 

The  prophet  Isaiah  said  much  of  the  promised 
Prince  of  peace,  and  of  his  blessed  reign.  And  his  de- 
scriptions abound  with  surpassing  eloquence.  As  an 
example,  we  will  repeat  one  of  the  passages  which 
Avere  quoted  on  the  subject  of  the  Messidh^ s  jiidgmeiit. 
"  There  shall  come  forth  a  Rod  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse, 
and  a  Branch  shall  grow  out  of  his  roots:  and  the 
spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  rest  upon  him,  the  spirit  of 
wisdom  and  understanding,  the  spirit  rf  knowledge, 
and  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord ;  and  shall  make  him  quick 
of  understanding  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord.  And  he 
shall  not  judge  after  the  sight  of  his  eyes,  neither  re- 

''  Deut.  xviii.  15.  <^  Deut.  xxxiv.  10. 


CHRIST   THE   MESSIAH   FORETOLD.  275 

prove  after  the  hearing  of  his  ears ;  but  with  righteous- 
ness shall  he  judge  the  poor,  and  reprove  with  equity  for 
the  meek  of  the  earth.  And  he  shall  smite  the  earth 
with  the  rod  of  his  mouth,  and  with  the  breath  of  his 
lips  shall  he  slay  the  wicked.  And  righteousness  shall 
be  the  girdle  of  his  loins,  and  faithfulness  the  girdle 
of  his  reins.  The  wolf  also  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb, 
and  the  leopard  shall  lie  down  with  the  kid ;  and  the 
calf,  and  the  young  lion,  and  the  fatling  together,  and 
a  httle  child  shall  lead  them.  *  *  And  in  that  day 
there  shall  be  a  root  of  Jesse,  which  shall  stand  for 
an  ensign  of  the  people ;  to  it  shall  the  Gentiles  seek, 
and  his  rest  shall  be  glorious."  <* 

It  must,  I  think,  be  obvious  to  every  mind,  that 
this  prophecy  describes  something  more  than  a  prophet 
and  teacher  like  those  who  were  then  addressmg  the 
people, — and  one  very  unlike  any  of  the  conquerors 
whom  the  world  had  known.  It  describes  one  who 
was,  like  Moses,  to  combine  the  character  of  prophet 
and  teacher,  with  that  of  lawgiver,  ruler  and  judge. 
And  he  was  to  be  a  spiritual,  not  a  secular  ruler.  For 
it  was  to  be  with  the  7^od  of  his  mouth,  and  with  the 
breath  of  his  lips,  that  he  was  to  smite  and  slay  the 
wicked.  This  denotes  his  moral  power,  the  successful 
workings  of  his  spirit  of  truth.  He  was  to  be  a  spir- 
itual King,  and  to  establish  a  spiritual  kingdom. 
And  the  benefits  of  this  kingdom  were  to  extend  unto 
all  nations,  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews. 

Such  prophecies  are  not  the  inventions  of  those 
Jewish  leaders  who  spake  them.  They  bear  no  re- 
semblance to  the  proud,  selfish,  partial,  national  Jew- 
ish spirit.  Though  uttered  by  Jews,  they  are  seen  to 
be  the  breathings  of  that  wisdom  of  God,  "  which  is 

d  Isa.  xi.  1— 10. 


276  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits,  without  partiality  and 
without  hypocrisy."  They  describe  a  Messiah,  to  be 
alike  the  Friend  and  Deliverer,  the  Salvation  and 
Glory,  of  Gentiles  and  Jews.  This  is  a  remarkable 
characteristic  of  all  the  Scripture  prophecies  of  Christ, 
and  a  strong  internal  evidence  that  they  are  not  Jewish 
forgeries,  but  the  teachings  of  Him  who  is  the  God 
of  all. 

II.  But  it  is  the  more  particular  design  of  the  pres- 
ent chapter,  to  elucidate  the  fact  that  the  Christ  of  the 
New  Testament  is  this  promised  Messiah  of  the  Old. 
And  in  the  prosecution  of  this  design,  we  shall  simul- 
taneously carry  out  the  subject  of  the  foregoing  re- 
marks, the  looking  forward  of  the  prophets  to  the 
ONE  who  was  to  come. 

1st.  The  time  of  his  coming  is  that  which  had  been 
variously  designated  by  Moses  and  the  prophets.  This 
time  had  been  described,  both  by  the  numbering  of  the 
intervening  periods,  and  by  connecting  it  with  a  variety 
of  other  great  events ;  events,  the  simultaneous  occur- 
rence of  which  it  would  be  the  weakest  credulity  to 
admit  that  human  sagacity  could  have  foreseen,  and 
imagination  have  conceived  of 

There  is  a  wonderful  designation  of  the  time  of 
Christ's  coming,  by  description  of  the  intervening 
periods  of  time  between  it  and  another  event,  as  re- 
corded by  the  prophet  Daniel.^  "  From  the  going  forth 
of  the  commandment  to  restore  and  to  build  Jeru- 
salem, imto  the  Messiah,  the  Prince,  shall  be  seven 
weeks,  and  three-score  and  two  weeks;"  i.  e.  sixty- 
nine  weeks.  And  then  there  was  to  be  one  week  in 
which  for  him  to  finish  his  work;  making  in  all 
seventy   weeks,    to    "finish    the    transgression,    and 

e  Dan.  ix.  24—27. 


CHRIST    THE    MESSIAH   FORETOLD.  27T 

make  an  end  of  sins,  and  to  make  reconciliation  for 
iniquity, — and  to  anoint  the  most  Holy:" — or,  in  other 
words,  for  sealing  and  establishing  that  covenant  as  a 
moral  system,  which,  by  its  efficient  energies,  shall 
make  an  end  of  evil. 

With  regard  to  the  reckoning  of  prophetic  time,  1 
adopt  no  enigmatical  rule.  I  receive  the  record  of 
time  by  the  prophets  as  by  other  writers,  days  for  days, 
and  weeks  for  Aveeks,  unless  in  any  particular  case 
they  inform  me  that  they  use  one  period  as  the  sign 
of  another.  And  so  I  understand  this  seventy  weeks, 
taking  the  word  weeks  as  it  is  in  the  original,  where  it 
is  sevens.  It  is  not  the  word  which  is  used  for  weeks, 
but  it  is  literally  sevens.  "Seventy  sevens  are  deter- 
mined upon  thy  people."  Now  to  take  this  in  its  most 
literal  sense,  we  must  understand  the  word  sevens  to 
apply  to  the  most  noted  and  natural  divisions  of  time, 
especially  when  mentioned  in  reference  to  great  and 
important  events.  Such  most  noted  and  natural  di- 
visions are  years.  Each  one  of  each  of  the  sevens^ 
being  taken  for  a  year,  it  is  seventy  sevens  of  years,  or 
four  hundred  and  ninety  years.  And  according  to  the 
accepted  chronology,  which  cannot  be  far  from  the 
truth,  Jesus  Christ  was  offered  upon  the  cross,  and  thus 
made  a  sin-offering  once  for  all,  superseding  the  neces- 
sity of  the  daily  sacrifices,  in  just  four  hundred  and 
ninety  years  from  the  date  of  Artaxerxes'  command- 
ment to  Ezra,  for  the  completing  and  beautifying  of 
the  temple,  the  reestablishment  of  the  service  of  God, 
and  the  more  perfect  restoration  of  Jerusalem.  There 
were  other  edicts,  which  had  more  particular  reference 
to  the  rebuilding  of  the  walls,  (fee.  of  the  city ;  but  as 
this  last,  by  Artaxerxes,  related  to  the  completion  of 
the  work  and  the  full  restoration  of  Jerusalem  to  its 
24 


278  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

religious  privileges  and  blessings,  the  prophetic  refer- 
ence in  this  case  is  sufficiently  applicable. 

This  is  an  agreement,  with  wonderful  exactness  of 
time,  between  the  event  and  the  prophecy.  But  more 
wonderful,  if  possible,  is  the  agreement  in  those  cases 
where  the  time  of  Messiah's  coming  is  described  by  its 
connexion  with  other  important,  and  in  some  instances 
improbable  events.  Moses  said,  "  The  sceptre  shall 
not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  from  between 
his  feet,  until  Shiloh  come ;  and  unto  him  shall  the 
gathering  of  the  people  be."  The  word  Shiloh  signi- 
fies the  Sent  of  God.  This  prophecy  foretells  the  con- 
tinuance of  regal  authority  in  the  tribe  of  Judah,  until 
the  Sent  of  God  should  come ;  and  involves  the  facts 
of  the  loss  of  this  authority  to  Judah,  and  the  coming 
of  Shiloh,  as  simultaneous  events.  And  it  was  so, 
taking  Jesus  for  the  promised  Shiloh.  Judea  was 
made  a  Roman  province  about  eleven  years  after  the 
birth  of  Christ.  Still  some  judicial  authority  was  left 
among  them  in  relation  to  some  of  their  domestic  con- 
cerns. But  in  the  year  70,  at  an  event  by  which  the 
cause  of  Christ  was  more  generally,  and  permanently 
established  in  the  world,  and  which  was  called  "  the 
coming  of  Christ  in  his  kingdom ^^^  then  the  power  of 
that  people  was  utterly  scattered,  and  the  distinctness 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah  was  lost.  So  then  the  sceptre 
did  remain  with  Judah  until  Jesus  came;  and  then 
Judah  fell.     Is  not  Jesus  then  the  promised  Shiloh  % 

Again,  it  was  foretold  by  the  prophet  Daniel,  (chap 
ii.)  that,  succeeding  the  then  present  Chaldean  mon- 
archy, there  would  be  three  universal  monarchies, 
making  in  all,  four; — and  that  in  the  time  of  the 
fourth  and  last  universal  earthly  monarchy,  the  God 

fMalt.  xvi.  27,28. 


CHRIST    THE   MESSIAH   FORETOLD.  279 

of  heaven  would  set  up  a  kingdom  which  should 
never  be  destroyed.  It  will  not  be  disputed  that  this 
indestructible  kingdom  is  the  kingdom  of  the  promised 
Messiah,  who  was  to  reign  in  righteousness,  and  of  the 
increase  of  whose  government  and  peace  there  should 
be  no  end.  The  setting  up  of  his  kingdom  was  of 
course  to  be  at  his  coming ;  and  this  Avas  to  be  in  the 
time  of  the  fourth  universal  monarchy.  The  Roman 
kingdom  was  the  fourth  universal  monarchy  on  the 
earth,  and  probably  the  last;  for  it  does  not  appear 
likely  that  there  will  ever  be  another.  And  it  was  in 
the  time  of  the  Roman  monarchy,  when  Caesar  Au- 
gustus was  Emperor,  that  Jesus  was  born  into  the 
world.  Is  not  Jesus,  then,  the  incumbent  of  the  throne 
of  that  kingdom,  which  the  God  of  heaven  should  set 
up  in  the  time  of  the  fourth  universal  monarchy  7 

Again,  with  respect  to  the  time  of  the  promised 
Messiah,  who  should,  by  the  virtues  of  his  kingdom, 
constitute  the  proper  Desire  of  all  nations,  Haggai  pro- 
phesied (chap,  ii.)  that  he  should  come  while  the 
second  temple  in  Jerusalem  should  be  standing,  when 
that  house  should  be  filled  with  glory.  Jesus  did 
come,  and  teach  in  that  temple  his  glorious  truth. 
But  that  temple  is  now  demolished  ;  the  very  founda- 
tions thereof  have  been  ploughed  up,  and  a  Turkish 
mosque  is  reared  on  its  ruins.  Is  not  Jesus,  then,  that 
Desire  of  all  nations,  who  should  visit  that  second 
temple  before  its  dissolution  ? 

I  might  pursue  this  subdivision  of  my  subject,  but 
should  exceed  my  limits.  And  enough  has  now 
been  presented  to  show  conclusively,  that  the  time  of 
Jesus'  coming,  is  the  time  which  the  prophets  had 
designated  for  the  coming  of  the  expected  Messiah. 
The  further  you  carry  the  examination  of  this  depart- 


280  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

ment  of  the  evidence  of  Christian  truth,  the  more  inter- 
esting it  becomes.  The  great  variety  of  ways  whereby 
this  time  was  designated,  makes  an  examination  of 
the  subject  the  more  satisfactory.  It  was  to  be  in  490 
years  from  the  going  forth  of  the  commandment  to 
rebuild  Jerusalem ; — it  was  to  be  about  the  time  when 
the  sceptre  should  depart  from  Judah ;  it  was  to  be  in 
the  time  of  the  fourth  and  last  universal  earthly  mon- 
archy :  it  was  to  be  while  the  second  temple  in  Jeru- 
salem should  be  standing.  And  at  the  point  of  time 
where  all  these  events  and  circumstances,  which  the 
prophets  had  foretold,  not  only  at  sundry  times,  but  in 
such  diverse  manners,  and  on  such  various  occasions, 
as  evince  that  they  were  not  copying  each  other ; 
I  say,  at  the  point  of  time  where  all  these  events  and 
circumstances  converge  and  centre,  Chr^ist  Jesus  came 
into  the  world.  And  such  was  the  understanding  of 
the  prophets  by  the  Jews  themselves,  that  they  were 
looking  for  their  Messiah  to  come  about  that  time. 
When  they  were  suffering  their  tribulations  in  that 
same  age,  they  were  easily  induced  to  follow  almost 
any  artful  impostor  who  rose  up  pretending  to  be  the 
Messiah.  But  the  claims  of  all  these  pretenders  were 
exploded,  almost  as  soon  as  they  were  put  forth.  Not 
so  with  Jesus.  He  came  at  the  time  appointed ;  and 
his  name  is  enduring  as  the  sun.  Is  not  this  the 
Christ? 

2d.  The  Christ  of  the  Ncav  Testament,  who  came 
at  the  designated  time^  appears  also  in  the  personal 
character  ascribed  to  the  expected  Messiah  by  the  pro- 
phets. Unlike  the  character  which  the  sentiments  of 
the  world  would  associate  with  princely  greatness  in  a 
royal  personage,  the  Messiah  was  to  come,  though  in  a 
glory  surpassing  that  of  all  the  kings  of  the  earth,  yet  in 


CHRIST    THE    MESSIAH    FORETOLD.  281 

meekness  and  lowliness,  humility  and  love.  His  great- 
ness was  to  be  a  moral  greatness ;  his  glory  was  to  be 
the  splendor  of  his  doctrines,  the  majesty  of  his  good- 
ness. For  a  sublime  description  of  this  trait  in  his 
character  and  mission,  listen  to  another  passage  from 
the  evangelical  prophet.  "  For  he  shall  grow  up  be- 
fore him  as  a  tender  plant,  and  as  a  root  out  of  a  dry 
ground,  he  hath  no  form  nor  comeliness.  *  ^  He  is  de- 
spised and  rejected  of  men,  a  man  of  sorrows  and 
acquainted  with  grief;  and  we  hid  as  it  were  our 
faces  from  him ;  he  was  despised,  and  we  esteemed 
him  not.  Surely  he  hath  borne  our  griefs  and  car- 
ried our  sorrows;  yet  we  did  esteem  him  stricken, 
smitten  of  God  and  afflicted.  But  he  was  wounded 
for  our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised  for  our  iniqui- 
ties ;  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him,  and 
with  his  stripes  we  are  healed.  All  we  like  sheep 
have  gone  astray ;  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own 
way ;  and  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of 
us  all.  He  was  oppressed,  and  he  was  afflicted,  yet 
he  opened  not  his  mouth :  he  is  brought  as  a  lamb 
to  the  slaughter,  and  as  a  sheep  before  her  shearers  is 
dumb,  so  he  opened  not  his  mouth.  *  *  He  was  cut  oif 
out  of  the  land  of  the  living,  for  the  transgression  of 
my  people  was  he  stricken.  He  had  done  no  violence, 
neither  was  any  deceit  in  his  mouth.  When  thou 
shall  make  his  soul  (his  life)  an  offering  for  sin,  he 
shall  see  his  seed,  he  shall  prolong  his  days,  and  the 
pleasure  of  the  Lord  shall  prosper  in  his  hand.  He 
shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied ;  by 
his  knowledge  shall  my  righteous  servant  justify  (the) 
many;  for  he  shall  bear  their  iniquities."^ 

s  Isa.  liii. 

24:* 


282  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

So  precisely  does  this  prophecy  describe  the  charac- 
ter which  Jesus  did  indeed  bear,  that  if  we  had  not 
the  indubitable  evidence  that  this  was  published  hun- 
dreds of  years  before  the  coming  of  Christ,  we  might 
reasonably  have  indulged  the  suspicion  that  it  was  a 
narrative  written  after  the  fact. 

His  being  said  to  be  without  form  or  comeliness^  does 
not  refer  to  bodily  deformity,  but  to  the  meanness  of 
his  birth,  the  humbleness  of  his  life,  and  the  character 
of  his  teachings, — all  being  unlike  that  which  would 
attract  the  gaze  and  admiration  of  the  world. 

He  was  a  Tnan  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with 
griefs^  bearing  our  griefs  and  carrying  02ir  sorrows. 
The  wanderings  and  the  sufferings  of  mankind  were 
observed  and  felt  by  him.  He  wept  with  the  weeping, 
and  mourned  with  the  sorrowful,  and  had  compassion 
on  the  ignorant  and  on  them  who  were  out  of  the  way. 
"When  John,  being  cast  into  prison,  heard  of  the 
works  of  Christ,  he  sent  two  of  his  disciples,  and 
asked  him,  saying.  Art  thou  he  that  should  come  1  or 
do  we  look  for  another?  Jesus  answered  and  said 
unto  them.  Go  and  show  John  those  things  which  ye 
do  hear  and  see ;  how  that  the  blind  receive  their 
sight,  and  the  lame  walk ;  the  deaf  hear,  and  the  lepers 
are  cleansed;  the  dead  are  raised  up,  and  the  poor 
have  the  gospel  preached  unto  them.'"*  This  answers 
to  the  prophetic  description,  which  Jesus  read  in  the 
meeting  of  Jewish  priests  and  people  in  the  syna- 
gogue of  Nazareth,  and  applied  to  himself:  "  The 
spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he  hath  an- 
ointed me  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor;  he  hath 
sent  me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliver- 
ance to  the  captives,  and   recovery  of  sight  to  the 

•'Malt.  xi.  2—5. 


CHRIST    THE   MESSIAH   FORETOLD.  283 

blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised,  to  preach 
the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord."  ' 

It  is  recorded  in  the  8th  of  Matthew,  that  "  they 
brought  unto  him  many  that  were  possessed  of  de- 
mons ;  and  he  cast  out  the  spirits  with  his  word,  and 
healed  them  that  were  sick ;  that  it  might  be  fulfilled 
which  was  spoken  by  Esaias  the  prophet,  saying,  Him- 
self took  our  infirmities,  and  bare  our  sicknesses." 
Surely  then  he  bore  the  griefs  and  carried  the  sorrows 
of  men.  And  though  he  was  ''  despised  and  rejected 
of  men,"  who  hunted  him  as  beasts  of  prey,  for  his  life, 
yet  he  was  gentle  and  forgiving,  and  his  tears  flowed 
in  sympathy  even  for  the  sufferings  of  his  enemies. 
"  When  he  was  reviled  he  reviled  not  again;  when  he 
suffered  he  threatened  not;  but  committed  himself  to 
him  that  judgeth  righteously." 

Thus  while  Jesus  taught  the  doctrine  of  forgiveness 
and  love,  overcoming  cruelty  with  kindness,  and  evil 
with  good,  he  faithfully  and  constantly  practised  the 
same.  And  when  he  had  spent  his  allotted  time 
on  earth  in  labors  of  love,  and  was  seized  by  a  band 
of  ruffians,  dragged  to  a  mock  trial,  and  adjudged  to  a 
shameful  death,  he  was  still  meek  and  forbearing.  And 
knowing  the  fixed  intent  of  his  persecutors,  and  that 
any  argument  of  his  in  support  of  his  divine  commis- 
sion would  be  seized  and  bandied  by  them  as  proof  of 
his  blasphemy,  he  was  passive  in  their  hands,  and 
contradicted  not  their  falsehoods.  Herein  was  ful- 
filled the  prophetic  saying  before  quoted,  "  He  was 
oppressed  and  afflicted,  yet  he  opened  not  his  mouth ; 
he  is  brought  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,  and  as  a 
sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb,  so  he  opened  not 
his  mouth." 

'Luke  iv.  16—22. 


284  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

This  prophecy  goes  on  to  show  that  the  promised 
One  whom  it  describes  would  be  put  to  death  by  the 
wickedness  of  his  persecutors ;  being  taken  from  prison 
and  from  judgment,  and  cut  off  from  the  land  of  the 
living,  because  he  had  done  no  violence,  and  there 
was  no  deceit  in  his  mouth, — and  being  smitten  for 
the  transgressions  of  the  people.  And  when  his  life 
should  have  been  made  an  offering  for  sin,  he  was  to 
live  again ;  for  he  was  then  to  see  his  seed,  prolong  his 
days,  or  his  existence,  and  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord 
should  prosper  in  his  hand. 

All  these  things  were  foretold  of  the  Messiah  of  the 
prophets ;  and  they  were  fulfilled  in  the  Christ  Jesus 
of  the  New  Testament.  And  see,  on  the  cross,  how 
he  carried  out  the  principles  of  love,  unconquerable 
love,  which  he  taught  and  practised  in  his  life.  He 
was  surrounded  by  his  murderers,  who  were  deriding 
him  in  his  agonies  inflicted  by  themselves ;  and  yet 
he  lifted  his  eyes  and  his  voice  to  the  King  eternal, 
and  in  the  majesty  of  his  love  he  cried, — ''Father,  for- 
give them." 

Then  this  mighty  Prince  of  peace,  when  he  had 
prayed  for  his  persecutors,  and  commended  his  spirit  to 
the  Father,  meekly  bowed  his  head  and  died.  He  was 
laid  in  a  new  tomb ;  and  the  chief  priests  and  Phari- 
sees, recollecting  that  he  had  said  he  should  rise  from 
the  dead  on  the  third  day,  went  to  Pilate,  and  pro- 
cured a  strong  guard  to  be  placed  upon  the  sepulchre, 
that  the  disciples  might  not  steal  away  his  body,  and 
report  that  he  had  risen.  But  on  the  morning  of  the 
third  day  from  his  crucifixion,  Jesus  arose  from  the 
state  of  death,  and  showed  himself  unto  his  disciples. 
He  tarried  with  them  a  sufficient  length  of  time  to 
confirm  to  them  the  truth  of  his  resurrection,  and  to 


€H11IST   THE   MESSIAH   FORETOLD.  285 

order  and  establish  the  affairs  of  his  spiritual  king- 
dom, and  he  was  then  borne  hence  into  the  invisible 
world,  to  reign  in  his  mediatorial  kingdom,  until  all 
things  should  be  subdued  unto  him,  or,  as  the  prophet's 
language  has  it,  until  he  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his 
sold  and  he  satisfied. 

I  might  multiply  the  comparisons  on  this  point  to  a 
much  greater  extent,— the  comparisons,  I  mean,  between 
the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  history  of 
the  New.  But  the  fact  shines  clearly  in  what  has  now 
been  presented,  that  the  Christ  of  the  New  Testament, 
who  came  at  the  designated  time,  appears  also  in  the 
personal  character  ascribed  to  the  expected  Messiah 
by  the  prophets.  And  my  closing  remarks  under  this 
head,  have  also  run  into  an  observation  of  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  prophecies  concerning  the  death  and  the 
resurrection  of  the  promised  One,  in  what  actually 
took  place  with  the  blessed  Son  of  Mary. 

3d.  There  is  a  third  view  in  which  the  Christ  of 
the  New  Testament  is  seen  to  be  the  Messiah  of  the 
Old,  viz.,  in  his  official  character.  The  promised  Mes- 
siah of  Moses  and  the  prophets  was  to  bruise  the  ser- 
pent's head,  or  make  an  end  of  the  evil  unto  which 
the  human  race  have  become  subject ;  he  was  to  make 
blessed  all  nations  and  families  of  the  earth ;  he  was 
to  be  a  commissioned  servant  of  God,  endowed  with 
his  spirit,  to  be  light  to  the  blind,  deliverance  to  the 
captives,  salvation  to  the  Gentiles,  and  the  redemption 
and  glory  of  Israel.  He  was  to  subdue  the  wicked 
with  the  breath  of  his  lips  and  the  rod  of  his  mouth, — 
the  word  of  his  truth  and  grace.  He  was  to  be  em- 
phatically the  Prince  of  i^eace  ;  and  of  the  increase  of 
his  government  and  peace  there  was  to  be  no  end.  Or, 
in  other  words,  it  should  extend,  until  it  should  en- 


286  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

circle  all.  For  there  was  to  be  given  him  dominion  and 
glory  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  nations  and  kindreds 
should  serve  him ;  and  his  kingdom  should  never  be 
destroyed,  nor  his  dominion  have  an  end.J  And  as  he 
was  to  be  a  sin  offering  for  those  whom  he  should 
subdue  and  redeem,  it  was  said  by  the  prophet  that 
he  should  hear  the  iniquities  of  us  all. 

In  the  same  official  character,  or  characters  rather, 
is  Jesus  presented  in  the  New  Testament.  As  a  j^riest 
he  is  said  to  have  made  a  sin-offering  for  the  people; 
"not  by  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats,  but  by  his 
own  blood,  he  hath  entered  once  into  the  holy  place, 
having  obtained  eternal  redemption  for  us."  *  "  There 
is  one  God,  and  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men, 
the  man  Christ  Jesus  ;  who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for 
all,  to  be  testified  in  due  time."  "  We  see  Jesus,  who 
was  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  for  the  suffer- 
ing of  death,  crowned  with  glory,  and  honor,  that  he  by 
the  grace  of  God  should  taste  death  for  every  man." 
"And  he  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins,  and  not  for 
ours  only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world."  ' 

As  a  King,  "  He  is  exalted  far  above  all  prin- 
cipality, and  power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and 
every  name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but 
also  in  that  which  is  to  come."  ■"  "  God  also  hath 
highly  exalted  him,  and  given  him  a  name  that  is 
above  every  name,  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every 
knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  in 
earth,  and  things  under  the  earth,  and  that  every  tongue 
should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord  to  the  glory 
of  God  the  Father.""  "  For  he  must  reign  till  he  hath 
put  all  enemies  under  his  feet.     Then  will  he  deliver 

1  Dan.  vii.  13, 14.  ^  Heb.  ix.  12.  1 1  John  ii.  2, 

"lEph.  i.  20,  21.  "Phil.  ii.  9—11. 


CHRIST    THE    MESSIAH    FORETOLD.  287 

up  the  kingdom  to  the  Father,  having  put  down  all 
rule  and  all  authority  and  power.  And  the  last  enemy 
shall  be  destroyed,  (which  is)  death."  ° 

How  instructive  is  the  study  of  the  sacred  Volume ! 
How  rich  is  the  knowledge  it  yields  !  When  we  pore 
over  the  statutes,  and  the  histories,  and  the  diversi- 
fied teachings,  of  the  ancient  chosen  people,  and  see 
interspersed,  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners, 
the  sweet  prophetic  breathings  of  promise  and  hope  for 
the  perfect  One  to  come,  the  creation's  Desire ;  and 
then  we  turn  our  minds  to  the  history  of  Jesus,  the 
Christian's  chosen  Master, — our  glad  hearts  leap  up, 
and  we  exclaim  in  the  language  of  the  admiring 
Philip,  ''  We  have  found  him  of  whom  Moses  in  the 
law  and  the  prophets  did  writeJ^ 

o  I  Cor.  XV.  24—26. 


CHAPTER     XI. 

TRUTH   OF    THE    GOSPEL   HISTORY. 

The  truth  of  Christianity,  as  a  revealed  system  of 
rehgious  hope,  is  involved  in  the  truth  of  the  Evan- 
gelical history.  This  history  records  the  life,  the  super- 
human works,  and  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  his 
resurrection  from  the  dead  as  the  first  fruits  of  them 
that  slept,  the  hope  of  human  kind.  Give  to  this  his- 
tory, or  to  all  there  is  peculiar  to  it,  the  character  of 
legends  and  forgeries, — and  you  relinquish  all  tangible 
hold  upon  Christianity  as  such,  and  draw  again  over 
our  mortal  vision^  the  impenetrable  vail  of  heathen 
darkness.  With  all  that  candor,  then,  which  becom- 
eth  children,  made  after  the  image  of  God,  we  will  in- 
quire into  the  credibility  of  the  Gospel  Records,  and 
truth  of  the  Christian  system. 

I.  And  here  in  the  outset  we  will  premise,  that  the 
truth  of  Christianity  is  in  the  nature  of  things  probable. 
We  are  not,  therefore,  to  be  predisposed  to  discredit 
good  evidence  in  its  favor.  We  are  rather  to  prepare 
our  minds  for  giving  all  evidence  its  due  weight,  in  the 
spirit  of  St.  Paul's  appeal  for  the  witnesses  of  Jesas, 
"Why  should  it  be  thought  a  thing  incredible  with 
you  that  God  should  raise  the  dead?" 

When  we  consider  man,  his  intellectual  powers  and 
faculties,  whereby  he  calculates  and  weighs  causes  and 
effects,  beholds  the  beauty  of  order,  and  traces  the  foot- 
steps of  design  in  all  the  works  of  nature,  visits  the 
revolving  planets,  strides  among  the  stars,  and  behold- 
ing all  above,  beneath  and  around,  admires  the  wisdom, 


TRUTH   OF    THE    GOSPEL   HISTORY.  289 

and  adores  the  benevolence  of  the  Creator,  and  claims 
to  him  the  high  relationship  of  children^ — we  are 
incited  to  inquire; — just  as  he  begins  to  be, — ^just  as 
he  begins  to  look  around, — just  as  he  begins  to  soar, — 
and  has  tasted  enough  of  life  and  knowledge  to  make 
him  pant  for  more, — must  he  fall  back  into  nonentity  ? 
Must  he  be  plunged  into  eternal  night?  Most  gloomy 
thought!  And  a  thought  as  unreasonable  as  it  is 
gloomy. 

It  is  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  the  infinitely  wise 
and  benevolent  Creator  has  so  constituted  any  grade 
of  creatures,  as  that  they  shall  possess  important,  even 
constitutional  wants,  infinitely  beyond  what  he  has 
made  provision  to  meet.  The  wisdom  and  perfection 
of  God's  works  in  creation  and  providence,  consist  in 
the  correspondence  and  harmony  of  all  its  parts,  and 
the  exact  adaptation  of  everything  to  its  proper  end. 
If  you  look  into  the  brute  creation,  you  will  see  the 
form  of  the  body,  limbs,  claw,  tooth  or  beak,  of  every 
animal,  exactly  adapted  to  the  procuring  of  that  kind 
of  food  which  its  nature  requires,  and  not  a  constitu- 
tional want  but  what  finds  a  provision  made  to  meet 
it.  And  it  is  fair  to  conclude,  that,  if  the  all-wise 
Creator  had  designed  to  limit  the  whole  sphere  of 
mans  existence  to  a  few  moments  here  on  earth,  he 
would  have  given  him  such  a  constitution  of  mind  as 
well  as  body,  as  that  the  productions  of  the  earth 
would  yield  him  satisfaction.  He  would  not  have 
made  us  so,  that  when  we  have  health  of  body,  and 
all  riches  and  comforts  which  earth  affords,  we  should 
feel  an  aching  void  within  the  breast,  unsatisfied  and 
unfilled, — an  earnest  reaching  forward  for  lasting  good 
to  come,  which  never  can  be  met  but  by  a  hope  of 
immortality. 

25 


290  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

Again,  when  you  look  into  the  natural  world,  you 
see  everything,  every  species  of  brutes  and  plants, 
come  up  to  a  state  of  maturity.  Every  species,  as  a 
whole,  seems  to  answer  its  destined  end.  The  tender 
plant  comes  up,  until  it  becomes  a  perfect  herb  or  tree, 
according  to  its  kind.  Nothing  can  be  discovered  in 
its  structure,  which  shows  it  to  tend  to  any  higher 
state,  or  bespeaks  a  design  for  any  higher  end  than  it 
fully  answers  here.  Not  so  with  man.  Consider  him 
as  an  intellectual  being.  Consider  his  ability  and 
disposition  to  acquire  knowledge,  and  his  growing 
thirst  for  it  as  he  advances  in  it.  And  yet  in  this  re- 
spect he  brings  nothing  to  perfection  here, — comes  up 
to  no  fixed  standard  of  perfect  knowledge.  The  mind 
is  but  a  tender  shoot,  when  the  winter  of  death  invari- 
ably comes  upon  it.  (Such  species  of  plants  always 
live  and  flourish  again  in  the  succeeding  spring,) 
Even  the  comparatively  learned  and  philosophical 
Newton,  felt  conscious  of  being  such  an  infant  in  knowl- 
edge, that  he  considered  himself  as  a  little  child  picking 
up  pebbles  on  the  shore  of  the  great  ocean  of  philosophy. 

Since,  then,  the  human  mind  only  enters  at  most 
upon  the  threshold,  upon  the  first  rudiments  of  that 
knowledge,  for  which  it  appears  to  be  formed,  and  in 
which  it  tends  to  advance;  since  it  never,  in  this 
world,  but  just  tastes  enough  of  knowledge  and  happi- 
ness to  make  it  pant,  and  show  forth  its  capacity,  for 
more, — the  dictates  of  reason  are,  that  man  is  yet  to 
live ;  that  he  is  to  resume  his  studies  in  another  state 
of  being,  and  progress  in  that  knowledge,  for  which  the 
constitution  of  his  mind  is  so  wonderfully  adapted. 

It  is  owing  to  this  feature  of  the  human  mind  of 
which  I  speak,  that  the  nations  of  the  earth  in  general, 
even  the  savage  tribes  of  the  wilderness,  have  cher- 


TRUTH    OF    THE    GOSPEL    HISTORY.  291 

ished  expectations  of  another  life.  Without  the  light 
of  revelation,  they  have  formed  various  and  some  ex- 
travagant notions  of  that  future  state ;  but  the  wants 
and  tendencies  of  the  human  mind  have  induced  them 
to  seek  relief  from  present  pains  and  troubles,  in  look- 
ing forward  to  another  and  a  better  life. 

"  The  soLil,  uneasy  and  confined  from  home, 
Rests  and  expatiates  in  a  life  to  come. 
Lo,  the  poor  Indian,  v,'hose  untutored  mind 
Sees  God  in  clouds,  or  hears  him  in  the  wind ; 
His  soul  proud  science  never  taught  to  stray- 
Far  as  the  solar  walk,  or  milky  way ; 
Yet  simple  nature  to  his  hope  has  given, 
Eehind  the  cloud-topt  hills,  an  humbler  heaven ; 
Some  safer  world  in  depths  of  wood  embraced, 
Some  happier  island  in  the  watery  waste ; 
Where  slaves  once  more  their  native  land  behold, 
No  thieves  torment,  nor  Christians  thirst  for  gold." 

That  this  reasonable  hope  of  future  existence  will  be 
answered,  does  not,  even  in  the  nature  of  things, 
appear  either  impossible  or  im'prohahle.  The  doctrine  of 
the  resurrection  is  no  more  mysterious  than  many  things 
with  which  we  are  acquainted.  Indeed,  there  is  no 
more  mystery  in  it  than  there  is  in  everything  we  see. 
Our  own  present  existence,  which  we  do  not  pretend 
to  dispute,  is  as  mysterious  as  the  resurrection  from 
the  state  of  the  dead. 

II.  But  I  will  proceed  to  consider  the  nature,  and 
the  manner,  of  the  transactions  which  the  New  Testa- 
ment records  as  the  basis  of  its  claim  of  Messiahship 
for  Jesus,  and  as  the  ground  of  Christian  hope. 

When  we  have  come  to  indulge  some  trembling 
hope,  through  the  reasonings  of  our  own  minds,  it 
crowns  our  desire  with  a  happy  assurance^  to  find  ex- 
ternal evidence  on  which  to  rely.     Especially  on  so 


292  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

deeply  interesting  and  vastly  important  a  subject  as 
the  one  before  us,  it  would  give  us  unspeakable  hap- 
piness to  receive  tangible  proof,  to  convert  our  travail 
of  soul  into  the  assurance  of  hope. 

Now  if  the  Lord  would  show  us  one  raised  from 
death  to  life,  whom  we  know  to  have  been  dead,  we 
should  receive  it  as  sufficient  external  evidence  of 
this  glorious  doctrine.  But  would  it  be  necessary 
that  we  should  see  such  an  instance  ourselves? 
This  would  be  to  say  that,  in  order  to  keep  the  doc- 
trine established  in  the  world,  it  is  necessary  that  the 
Lord  should  continue  raising  men  in  every  country, 
and  in  every  neighborhood,  and  in  every  age,  so  that 
every  individual  should  be  witness  of  it.  And  this 
would  be  turning  out  of  employment  that  investigation 
of  evidence,  which  improves  the  mind,  and  by  which 
"it  is  well  that  we  should  come  into  the  truth.  We 
will  not  be  so  unreasonable  as  this.  If  we  can  find 
account  of  some  one  person,  a  person  of  notoriety,  who 
has  been  dead,  and  raised  again  to  life,  as  a  sample 
of  the  human  race ;  and  if  we  can  find  this  account  as 
well  authenticated  as  many  histories  which  we  have 
of  past  events, — we  will  be  satisfied  with  it  as  a  good 
proof  of  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life. 

Well,  we  have  a  book  put  into  our  hands,  containing 
such  an  account, — and,  I  think,  even  better  attested 
than  any  history  which  we  have,  relating  events  that 
transpired  in  ages  past.  I  have  the  book  now  before 
me.  It  gives  an  account  of  one  Jesus,  called  the 
Christ,  sent  from  God  on  an  important  errand,  on  a 
divine  commission.  It  is  said  that  he  is  the  Light  of 
men,  and  came  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  He 
was  so  extraordinary  a  personage,  and  bent  on  so 
gracious  an  errand,  that  an  angel  from  heaven  came 


TRUTH    OF    THE   GOSPEL   HISTORY.  293 

and  thus  proclaimed  his  advent; — ''Behold,  I  bring 
you  good  tidings  of  great  joy,  which  shall  be  to  all 
people."  And  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host,  in 
view  of  the  result  of  his  glorious  mission,  came  down 
to  the  shepherds'  plains,  and  raised  their  joyful  song, 
"Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  on  earth  peace,  and 
good  will  towards  men." 

He  went  on,  and  proved  that  he  was  sent  of  God, 
and  endowed  with  divine  authority  and  power,  by 
a  long  series  of  miracles.  He  made  the  blind  to  see, 
the  lame  to  walk,  the  deaf  to  hear,  the  dumb  to  speak, 
and  the  dead  to  hve.  These  things  appear  well  at- 
tested and  faithfully  recorded,  and  the  miracles  were 
generally  performed  in  such  a  manner,  and  under  such 
circumstances,  as  not  to  admit  of  deception. 

Let  us  take,  for  instance,  the  case  of  the  man  born 
blind,  restored  to  sight.  This  was  not  done  in  an  ob- 
scure corner,  and  a  person  reported  to  have  been  re- 
stored to  sight,  of  whom  no  one  knew  whether  he  was 
ever  blind  or  not.  It  was  done  at  Jerusalem,  and 
upon  a  person  well  known  there.  The  neighbors, 
and  they  Avho  had  seen  the  man  who  was  born 
blind,  said,  "Is  not  this  he  that  sat  and  begged? 
Some  said.  This  is  he;  others  said.  He  is  like  him: 
but  he  said,  I  am  he."  Then  they  brought  him  to  the 
Pharisees,  who  also  asked  him  how  he  had  received  his 
sight.  And  he  told  them.  But  they  hoped  it  might 
not  be  made  to  appear  that  he  had  ever  been  blind. 
So  they  called  the  parents  of  him  that  had  received  his 
sight,  "And  they  asked  them  saying,  Is  this  your  son, 
who  you  say  was  born  blind?  How  then  doth  he 
now  see  ?  His  parents  answered,  We  know  that  this 
is  our  son,  and  that  he  was  born  blind;  but  by  what 
25^ 


294  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

means  he  now  seetli,  we  know  not :  he  is  of  age,  ask 
him  :  he  shall  speak  for  himself." 

"  Then  again  they  called  the  man  that  had  been 
blind,  and  said,  Give  God  the  praise ;  we  know  that 
this  man  is  a  sinner.  He  answered  and  said,  Whether 
he  be  a  sinner  or  no,  I  know  not ;  one  thing  I  know, 
that  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see."  But  they  were 
still  in  perplexity.  "They  asked  him  again,  What 
did  he  unto  thee  1  How  opened  he  thine  eyes  7" 
With  boldness  and  good  sense  he  answered  them,  ''I 
have  told  you  already."  And  on  his  reasoning  with 
them  to  show  that  so  good  a  deed  could  not  have 
come,  as  they  insinuated,  from  a  bad  spirit,  they  re- 
viled him  and  cast  him  out. 

There  is  no  need  of  multiplying  cases  to  show  that 
the  miracles  of  Jesus  were  known  among  his  enemies 
as  well  as  among  his  friends.  This  was  generally  the 
case.  His  enemies  did  not  dispute  that  he  wrought 
these  wonders.  They  admitted  the  fact.  But  they 
charged  him  with  doing  these  works  through  the 
agency  of  an  evil  spirit.  It  was  as  unreasonable, 
however,  as  it  was  malicious,  to  ascribe  all  these 
good  works  to  an  evil  agency. 

Concerning  the  character  of  Christ,  it  is  unimpeach- 
able. His  doctrine  bears  the  evidence  of  its  being 
from  above ;  and  his  instructions  are  delivered  with 
a  majesty  well  becoming  a  divine  Teacher.  Every- 
thing we  can  see  in  all  his  life, — in  his  works,  and 
in  his  doctrines, — appears  totally  opposite  to  what 
might  be  expected  from  an  impostor,  aiming  at  his 
own  aggrandizement. 

But  the  prejudices  of  the  Jews  against  him  are 
strong ;  at  the  spread  of  his  doctrine  they  are  much 
alarmed ;  and  they  resolve  to  get  him  out  of  the  way. 


TRUTH    OF    THE    GOSPEL    HISTORY.  295 

— They  seize  him, — drag  him  before  the  magistrates, 
— where  he  is  hastily  and  maliciously  condemned. 
They  send  him  up  to  a  higher  tribunal ;  Pilate,  the 
judge,  examines  him,  and  is  persuaded  of  his  inno- 
cence. But  he  is  intimidated  by  the  magistrates,  and 
delivers  him  up  into  their  hands.  They  crucify  and 
bury  him ; — seal  the  sepulchre,  and  set  their  own 
watch  upon  it.  A  short  time  after,  and  even  before 
the  very  magistrates  who  condemned  him,  it  is  boldly 
published  that  Jesus,  whom  they  had   crucified,  is 

RISEN    FROM    THE    DEAD  ! 

Is  there  any  evidence  against  this  ? — What  say  the 
strong  guard,  which  were  placed  upon  the  sepulchre 
on  purpose  to  prevent  imposition?  Do  they  come 
forward  and  show  that  the  body  of  Jesus  remained 
in  the  sepulchre  beyond  the  time  he  had  set  for  his 
rising?  No.  They  make  mention  of  the  wonders 
which  took  place  at  the  set  time ;  and  all  Jerusalem 
knows  that  the  body  was  then  gone  from  the  tomb : 
but  the  soldiers  are  hired  to  say,  that  Jesus'  disciples 
stole  away  his  body  while  they  were  asleep. 

I^et  us  examine  this  testimony,  the  only  testimony 
which  pretends  to  account  for  the  absence  of  Jesus 
from  the  tomb,  without  admitting  his  resurrection. 
How  did  they  know  that  the  disciples  carried  away 
their  Master's  body  ?  Answer :  Because  they  were 
asleep  when  it  was  done.  Such  testimony  is  not 
admissible ;  for  then  they  knew  nothing,  and  of 
course,  their  witness  is  nothing. 

But  how  incredible  is  it  that  the  watch  did  all 
fall  asleep.  As  we  should  naturally  suppose,  under 
such  an  excitement,  every  precaution  was  taken  to 
prevent  deception  concerning  Jesus'  rising  from  the 


296  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

dead ;  for  they  knew  that  he  had  said  he  should 
rise  again  on  the  third  day. 

Therefore,  ''  the  chief  priest  and  Pharisees  came  to- 
gether unto  Pilate,  saying.  Sir,  we  remember  that  that 
deceiver  said,  while  he  was  yet  alive,  After  three  days 
I  will  rise  again.  Command  therefore,  that  the  sepul- 
chre be  made  sure  until  the  third  day,  lest  his  disciples 
come  by  night,  and  steal  him  away,  and  say  unto  the 
people,  He  is  risen  from  the  dead :  so  the  last  error 
shall  be  worse  than  the  first.'"" — Under  these  circum- 
stances, we  cannot  doubt  that  they  placed  upon  the 
sepulchre  such  a  guard,  that,  under  the  dreadful  re- 
sponsibility in  which  their  laws  placed  such  guards, 
there  was  no  danger  of  their  all  at  once  falling 
asleep. 

And,  on  the  other  hand,  such  an  undertaking  as 
that  of  stealing  away  the  body  of  Jesus,  and  reporting 
that  he  had  risen  from  the  dead,  could  hardly  have 
been  thought  of  by  the  disciples,  with  all  theii  tim- 
idity, and  the  views  they  had  entertained. — First^  as 
it  respects  their  timidity.  Not  one  of  them  had  cour- 
age enough  to  stand  by  their  Master  when  he  was 
condemned  to  be  put  to  death.  Even  Peter,  who  had 
been  the  most  resolute,  found  his  courage  to  fail.  He 
thrice  denied  his  Lord.  How  then  would  these  poor 
cowardly  fishermen  have  dared  to  risk  themselves  to 
get  the  body  of  Jesus  away  from  a  strong  guard,  in 
a  time  of  such  mad  excitement?  And  second^  as  it 
respects  the  views  they  had  entertained.  They  had 
been  expecting  that  Jesus  would  build  up  a  powerful 
kingdom  in  this  world,  and  redeem  Israel  from  the 
Roman  yoke.  Their  thoughts  did  not  rise  above  tem- 
poral things.     ''We  trusted,"  said  they,  "that  it  had 

a  Matt,  xxvii.  G3,  64. 


TRUTH    OF    THE    GOSPEL    HISTORY.  297 

been  he  which  should  have  redeemed  Israel."  Such 
being  their  views,  we  can  find  nothing  to  favor  a  sus- 
picion, that  the  disciples  would  have  wished  to  steal 
away  his  body,  even  if  they  could  safely  have  done 
so.  For  if  they  believed  that  God  would  raise  him 
from  the  dead,  they  would  rather  choose  to  leave  him 
as  he  was,  that  the  power  of  God  might  be  displayed 
and  evinced  before  their  adversaries.  And  if  they  did 
not  expect  that  he  would  rise  again,  all  their  hopes  of 
his  restoring  Israel  were  at  an  end ;  for  they  could  not 
expect  to  make  his  dead  body  king  over  Israel,  if  they 
had  carried  it  away.  Therefore,  considering  the  views 
and  expectations  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus  at  that  time, 
I  can  see  no  reason  for  the  suspicion  that  they  would 
have  wished  to  steal  away  his  body,  if  they  had  cour- 
age to  undertake  it. 

No  wonder  that  the  Jews  suspected  them  of  such  a 
design ;  for  the  progress  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  of  the 
nature  and  design  of  which  they  were  ignorant,  had 
much  alarmed  them ;  and  when  persons  are  under  a 
high  excitement  of  fear,  they  will  imagine  a  thousand 
dangers.  Their  suspicions  doubtless  were,  that  the 
disciples  of  Jesus  might  think  to  steal  away  his  body, 
and  report  that  he  had  risen  from  the  dead  :-^and  that 
then  they  would  put  forward  the  most  artful  and 
active  of  their  number,  to  personify  him,  and  draw 
away  the  people  after  him  as  the  Messiah,  the  one 
who  had  been  crucified  and  raised  from  the  dead, 
until  sufiicient  strength  had  been  collected  to  seize  on 
the  reins  of  government.  But  such  a  plan,  as  it  ap- 
pears, the  disciples  never  thought  of.  When  they 
preached  Jesus,  that  he  had  risen  from  the  dead,  they 
never  presented  any  personage  as  a  claimant  of  an 
earthly  throne,  nor  did  they  seem  to  be  pushing  their 


298  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

efforts  at  all  for  promotion  and  power  in  the  world. 
They  had  then  learned  that  their  Master's  kingdom 
is  not  of  this  world. 

But  it  appears  to  have  been  so  evident  at  that  day 
that  Christ  was  alive  from  the  dead,  that  the  Jews 
themselves  had  hardly  boldness  enough  to  dispute  it. 
When  Peter  restored  the  lame  man  that  sat  at  the 
gate  of  the  temple,  and  the  wondering  multitude 
crowded  around  him,  he  addressed  them  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  as  a  matter  against 
which  he  feared  no  argument. — "Ye  men  of  Israel, 
why  marvel  ye  at  this]  Or  why  look  ye  so  ear- 
nestly on  us,  as  though  by  our  own  power  or  holiness, 
we  had  made  this  man  to  walk  ? — The  God  of  your 
fathers  hath  glorified  his  So?i  Jesiis  ;  whom  ye  de- 
livered up,  and  denied  him  in  the  presence  of  Pilate, 
when  he  was  determined  to  let  him  go.'""  Though 
the  priests  and  rulers  were  angry  at  such  addresses, 
and  were  pricked  at  their  hearts,  yet  they  never 
encountered  them  with  any  formal  argument. 

When  Paul  was  brought  before  the  rulers  on  trial 
for  his  doctrine,  he  stood  up  with  confidence,  bold- 
ness, and  simplicity,  and  declared  his  conversation 
which  he  had  held  with  Jesus,  who  had  been  cruci- 
fied, and  raised  again  to  life.  ''And  the  king,"  saith 
he,  ''knoweth  these  things,  before  whom  I  speak 
freely ;  for  I  am  persuaded  that  none  of  these  things 
are  hidden  from  him,  for  this  thing  was  not  done  in 
a  corner."  And  King  Agrippa,  by  Paul's  defence  of 
his  cause,  was  almost  persuaded  himself  to  be  a 
Christian.  What !  Notwithstanding  the  preaching 
of  the  resurrection  of  Christ  had  raised  so  great  an 
excitement,   and   enraged   the   people   in   that  coun- 

b  Acts  iii.  12,  13. 


TRI/TH    OF   THE   GOSPEL   HISTORY.  299 

try  to  so  great  a  degree,  had  they  no  regular  testi- 
mony against  it?  No.  Their  principal  argument 
was,  to  call  the  witnesses  of  Jesus  Satan's  children, 
disturbers  of  the  peace,  and  turners  of  the  world 
upside  down. 

But  when  the  enemies  of  Christ  had  put  him  to 
death,  and  had  him  in  their  own  hands,  knowing  that 
he  had  said  that  he  should  rise  again  on  the  third  day, 
— and  they  had  taken  particular  care,  as  we  might  sup- 
pose they  would,  to  prevent  any  deception  being  prac- 
tised by  his  disciples, — if  he  did  not  rise  as  he  had 
foretold,  when  the  third  day  had  passed,  they  would 
have  produced  the  body,  and  the  whole  matter  would 
have  been  set  at  rest.  All  the  officers  and  people 
who  had  been  concerned  in  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus, 
— all  these  at  least  would  have  run  together,  and 
made  themselves  certain  of  the  fact,  that  Jesus  was  an 
impostor.  They  would  have  shown  to  the  world  that 
he  had  not  risen  as  he  said, — that  they  had  his  body 
in  their  own  possession.  Then,  if  any  had  afterwards 
come  forward,  and  reported  that  Jesus  rose  from  the 
dead  on  the  third  day,  abundant  and  regular  proof 
would  have  been  brought  against  them,  and  their  bold 
and  arrogant  imposture  would  have  been  put  down 
forever.  But  as  it  is,  this  is  so  far  from  being  the 
case,  that  when  a  witness  of  Jesus'  resurrection  is 
brought  to  trial  on  account  of  his  doctrine,  there  is  no 
evidence  against  him ;  and  the  king  himself,  who  is 
on  the  side  of  the  witness'  enemies,  and  before  whom 
he  stands  for  judgment,  openly  declares  to  this  minis- 
ter of  Jesus,  that  he  is  almost  persuaded  to  believe  his 
testimony ! 

Indeed,  after  examining,  by  the  strictest  rules  of 
criticism,  the  testimony  of  Christ's  resurrection,  I  am 


300  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

unable  to  conceive  how  we  could  have  been  furnished 
with  more  satisfactory  evidence.  Even  if  all  the  rulers 
and  people  of  Israel  had  espoused  the  doctrine  of  his 
resurrection,  it  would  not  have  been  so  evident  as  it 
now  is  to  us.  For  then,  as  there  would  have  been  no 
opposition  to  it,  we  should  have  had  more  room  for 
suspicion  that  the  whole  affair  was  a  mere  fabrication, 
which  the  Jewish  rulers  had  agreed  to  support  from 
sinister  motives. — But  the  opposition  of  the  Jews,  con- 
sidering the  circumstances  noticed  under  which  they 
opposed,  the  kind  of  opposition,  and  the  kind  of  suc- 
cess which  it  met  with,  tends  to  confirm  the  testimony 
of  the  Christian  witnesses. 

III.  But  may  it  not  be  that  this  book,  which  bears 
such  indubitable  marks  of  truth,  admitting  it  to  have 
been  written,  and  to  record  what  was  publicly  and 
extensively  preached,  in  the  age  to  which  it  ascribes 
these  events,  is  itself  the  fabrication  of  a  later  age  ? 
That  there  never  was  such  a  man  as  Jesus  Christ, 
making  the  excitement  in  the  world  which  is  here 
represented ;  being  crucified  under  the  reign  of  Tibe- 
rius Csesar,  when  Pontius  Pilate  was  governor  of 
Judea ;  and  being  preached  soon  after  as  risen  from 
the  dead  ?  That  there  were  not,  shortly  afterwards, 
churches  formed  in  his  name,  at  Rome,  Corinth, 
Ephesus,  &c.,  nor  any  such  men  as  Paul,  Peter,  and 
others,  visiting  among  such  churches,  and  writing  to 
them  the  letters  which  are  herein  contained? — May 
it  not  be  that  this  book  was  wholly  forged  in  some 
later  age,  and  palmed  upon  the  people  as  having  been 
written  in  the  age  to  which  it  assigns  these  events  7 
-  No.  Such  a  supposition  cannot  be  admitted  for  a 
moment.  It  does  not  bear  sufficient  marks  of  prob- 
ability, or  even  possibility^  to  be  adhered  to  by  any 


TRUTH   OF    THE    GOSPEL    HISTORY.  301 

man  of  respectable  discernment.  Fix  upon  what  time 
you  will  for  the  bringing  forward  of  this  forged  book, 
say  some  time  in  the  third  century.  This  would  be, 
of  course,  the  origin  of  the  sect  who  espouse  the 
system  it  contains.  I  might  rather  say,  it  would  be 
the  origin  of  the  system  itself.  Yet  the  book  professes 
to  have  been  written  three  centuries  before;  and  it 
represents  its  cause  and  its  converts  as  having  been 
notorious,  and  extended  throughout  Judea,  Jerusalem, 
Rome,  Corinth,  Galatia,  Ephesus,  Philippi,  Colosse, 
Thessalonica,  and  other  countries,  in  that  long  passed 
age, — three  centuries  before  the  sect  was  ever  heard 
of,  or  ever  started  in  the  world  !  It  is  plain  to  be  seen 
that  the  book  must  have  destroyed  itself  the  very  day 
of  its  appearance. 

I  can  find  no  more  reason  to  doubt  there  having 
been  such  a  man  as  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  all  these 
things  herein  stated  were  said  and  written  about  him 
at  the  time  they  purport  to  have  been,  and  by  the 
persons  to  whom  they  are  ascribed, — than  I  have  for 
doubting  that  there  was  such  an  emperor  as  Tiberius, 
such  a  governor  as  Pilate,  and  such  a  king  as  Agrippa ; 
or  that  the  works  ascribed  to  Josephus  were  written 
by  the  man  whose  name  they  bear. 

That  there  was  a  person  called  Jesus  Christ,  the 
founder  of  the  sect  called  Christians,  who  lived  and 
was  crucified  at  the  time  stated  by  the  book  before  us, 
the  New  Testament, — and  that  shortly  after,  there 
were  churches  formed  in  his  name,  in  Rome,  and 
other  places,  where  Paul  and  other  apostles  are  herein 
represented  as  having  visited,  preached,  and  written, 
— these  things,  I  say,  are  supported  by  the  testimony 
of  our  enemies.  I  will  instance  a  quotation  from 
Tacitus^  a  celebrated  Roman  historian  and  pleader 
26 


302  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

under  the  reign  of  Domitian  and  Nerva,  whose  reigns 
were  between  fifty  and  sixty-five  years  after  the  death 
of  Christ.  He  wrote  the  work  to  which  I  refer,  how- 
ever, five  years  after  the  death  of  Nerva,  about  severity 
years  from  Christ's  crucifixion.  In  giving  an  account 
of  the  setting  of  fire  to  Rome,  by  Nero,  an  event  which 
took  place  about  thirty  years  after  the  crucifixion, 
Tacitus  writes  thus: — "But  neither  these  exertions, 
nor  his  largesses  to  the  people,  nor  his  offerings  to  the 
gods,  did  away  the  infamous  imputation  under  .which 
Nero  lay,  of  having  ordered  the  city  to  be  set  on  fire. 
To  put  an  end,  therefore,  to  this  report,  he  laid -the 
guilt,  and  inflicted  the  most  cruel  punishment,  upon  a 
sect  of  people,  who  were  held  in  abhorrence  for  their 
crimes,  and  called  by  the  vulgar,  Christians.  The 
founder  of  that  name  was  Christ,  who  suffered  death 
in  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  under  his  procurator  Pontius 
Pilate.  This  pernicious  superstition,  thus  checked  for 
awhile,  broke  out  again,  and  spread,  not  only  over 
Judea,  where  the  evil  originated,  but  through  Rome 
also,  whither  everything  that  is  bad  finds  its  way, 
and  is  practised."  With  what  this  writer  says  of  the 
character  of  the  Christian  religion,  we  have  no  concern. 
It  is  not  an  hundredth  part  so  strange  that  he  was  un- 
acquainted with  the  excellency  of  the  system,  and  called 
it  a  pernicious  error,  as  it  is  that  some  learned  profes- 
sors of  Christianity,  in  this  day,  should  be  almost  totally 
ignorant  of  the  doctrine  we  profess,  except  its  name, 
and  should  call  it  a  pernicious  heresy.  But  this  emi- 
nent heathen  historian  is  good  evidence,  that  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine,  after  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  started 
anew  and  with  vigor  in  Judea,  (just  as  the  New  Tes- 
tament writers  represent,)  and  soon  extended  itself 
even  unto  Rome : — and  that  the  author  of  this  religion 


TRUTH   OF    THE    GOSPEL    HISTORY.  303 

was  the  crucified  Jesus,  who  also  suffered  under  Pon- 
tius Pilate. 

Finally,  of  the  genuineness  of  the  writings  which 
we  have  in  the  New  Testament,  there  is  more  evidence 
than  of  that  of  any  other  work  of  as  early  date.  This 
is  as  it  should  be.  The  abundance  of  evidence  should 
always  correspond  with  the  importance  of  the  subject. 
This  is  truly  the  fact  in  the  case  before  us.  The  his- 
torical books  of  the  New  Testament,  in  particular,  by 
which  I  mean  the  four  Gospels,  and  the  Acts,  are 
quoted  and  referred  to  as  authentic  and  genuine,  by  a 
connected  chain  of  Christian  writers  and  commenta- 
tors, from  some  cotemporary  with,  or  immediately  suc- 
ceeding the  apostles,  down  to  the  present  time.  But 
I  have  not  room  here  to  make  quotations  from  them. 
I  will  barely  say,  that  from  the  heginnmg  there  were 
but  four  Gospels  mentioned  as  being  relied  upon  as 
indisputably  genuine,  and  they  are  the  four  which  are 
embraced  in  our  Scriptures. 

In  short,  we  need  no  better  evidence  than  we  have, 
that  the  account  which  we  have  before  us  of  the  life, 
the  doctrine,  the  death,  and  the  resurrection  of  Christ, 
was  written  and  made  public  in  the  same  age  and 
country  to  which  these  things  are  ascribed.  And  there 
is  not  to  be  found,  against  the  resurrection  of  Christ, 
any  better  argument  than  the  one  before  considered 
and  found  to  be  nothing, — that  the  disciples  stole 
away  the  body  while  the  guard  were  asleep. 

But  why  should  the  Jews  have  been  such  deter- 
mined enemies  to  Jesus  7  Or  why  should  they  have 
persisted  in  declaring  him  an  impostor?  They  did 
not,  as  we  have  seen,  deny  the  reality  of  the  works 
which  the  Gospels  ascribe  to  him ;  but  they  charged 
his  wonderful  powers  upon  a  confederacy  with  evil 


304  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

demons.  Even  Celsus,  in  his  work  against  Chris- 
tianity, written  in  the  2d  century,  admitted  the  mira- 
cles of  Jesus,  but,  Uke  his  brethren  of  the  Saviour's 
time,  ascribed  them  to  demoniacal  agency.  But  why 
did  they  charge  him  with  imposture?  His  life,  suf- 
ferings and  death,  so  exactly  answered  to  the  descrip- 
tion which  their  prophets  had  given  of  the  expected 
Messiah,  that,  in  reading  the  prophets,  we  should 
think,  if  we  did  not  know  to  the  contrary,  that  we  were 
reading  a  narrative  of  Jesus  written  by  a  personal  ac- 
quaintance. And  they  have  indicated  the  time,  too, 
with  such  precision,  that  the  Jews  generally  were 
looking  for  his  advent  as  near.  These  prophetic  books 
are  held  sacred  by  the  Jews.  Our  enemies  have  been 
our  librarians^  keeping  for  us  the  Scriptures,  which 
point  out  the  character,  and  the  time  of  our  Saviour. 

And  he  came  at  the  time  their  prophets  had  foretold. 
But  because  they  knew  him  not,  neither  the  voice  of 
their  prophets,  which  were  read  every  Sabbath  day 
amongst  them,  they  fulfilled  them  in  condemning  him. 
Though  he  came  in  the  character  which  the  prophets 
had  described,  yet  it  was  not  as  their  national  pride 
and  worldly  ambition  had  pictured  to  themselves. 
But  he  disdained  to  play  the  impostor  that  he  might 
gain  their  favor.  He  steadily  pursued  his  heavenly 
Father's  will.  Through  trials  and  persecutions,  he 
labored  in  the  cause  of  love  and  good  will  to  men. 
He  died  on  the  cross,  and  was  laid  in  the  tomb.  "  But 
note  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead^  and  become  the  first 
fruits  of  them  that  slejjty 

Since,  then,  God  has  kindly  given  us  so  good  external 
evidence  of  that  doctrine,  which  is  so  reasonable,  and 
for  which  we  have  such  real  need,  such  constitutional 
want,  we  will  gladly  receive  it  for  the  satisfaction  of 


TRUTH    OF    THE   GOSPEL   HISTORY.  305 

our  souls.  Since  Christ,  the  First  Fruits,  has  come  in,' 
we  will  steadfastly  look  for  the  coming  of  the  harvest. 
"  Though  now  we  see  him  not,  in  him  believing,  we 
rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory,  receiv- 
ing the  end  of  our  faith,  even  the  salvation  of  our 
souls." 

26* 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE    RESURRECTION   OF    THE    DEAD. 

"  For  as  in  Adam  all  die  ;  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive."    1  Cor. 
XV.  22. 

In  the  preceding  chapter,  we  examined  some  of  the 
evidence  touching  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  history. 
On  the  main  facts  recorded  by  this  history,  comprised 
in  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament,  we  ground,  as 
Christians,  our  system  of  reUgious  faith.  In  the  said 
examination  we  did  not  take  an  extensive  range  of 
argument,  for  so  we  might  have  filled,  with  that  single 
subject,  an  expensive  volume.  We  restricted  this  de- 
partment of  our  labor  to  a  few  of  the  most  direct,  com- 
prehensive and  conclusive  arguments,  available  to  the 
simplest  and  most  illiterate  reader. 

Among  the  important  facts  established  by  the  record, 
are  those  of  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus,  and  his  resurrec- 
tion from  the  state  of  death  as  the  first-fruits  of  them 
that  slept.  Receiving  Christ,  then,  in  this  relation  to 
mankind,  as  alive  from  the  dead,  our  own  resurrection 
to  a  future  life  is  a  consequent  truth.  So  does  the 
apostle  argue,  in  that  portion  of  his  writings  from 
which  I  have  taken  my  key-text  and  motto^  at  the  head 
of  this  chapter.  Having  certified  the  fact  of  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ,  he  proceeds  to  argue  the  resurrection 
of  all  men  in  him. 

It  appears,  from  the  manner  of  his  discourse  in  the 
commencement  of  the  chapter,  that  there  were  some  in 
Corinth  who  admitted  the  Messiahship  and  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ,  and  yet  denied  the  doctrine  of  the  gen- 


THE    RESURRECTION.  307 

eral  resurrection.  "For  I  delivered  anto  you  first  of 
all,  that  which  I  also  received,  how  that  Christ  died 
for  our  sins  according  to  the  Scriptures ;  and  that  he  was 
buried,  and  that  he  rose  again  the  third  day  according 
to  the  Scriptures;  and  that  he  was  seen  of  Cephas, 
then  of  the  twelve ;  after  that  he  wa:5  seen  of  above 
five  hundred  brethren  at  once ;  of  whom  the  greater 
part  remain  unto  this  present,  but  some  are  fallen 
asleep.  After  that  he  was  seen  of  James,  then  of  the 
apostles.  And  last  of  all  he  was  seen  of  me  also, 
as  of  one  born  out  of  due  time.  Now  if  Christ  be 
preached  that  he  rose  from  the  dead,  how  say  some 
among  you  that  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead  7 
But  if  there  be  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  then  is 
Christ  not  risen  :  and  if  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is  our 
preaching  vain,  and  your  faith  is  also  vain.  Yea,  and 
we  are  found  false  witnesses  of  God ;  because  we  have 
testified  of  God  that  he  raised  up  Christ,  whom  he 
raised  not  up,  if  so  be  that  the  dead  rise  not." 

The  apostle  further  shows  them  that  they  were, 
upon  the  whole,  losers  by  professing  the  Christian 
name,  if  they  were  looking  for  nothing  through  Christ 
but  temporal  things.  For  the  most  valuable  doctrine 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  is  that  of  a  glorious  immortal- 
ity beyond  the  tomb.  This  answered  to  their  wants, 
supported  them  under  trials,  gave  them  joy  in  afflic- 
tions, and  a  heaven  on  earth. 

While  their  spirits  were  cheered  and  animated  by 
this  blessed  hope,  and  their  hearts  were  warmed  by 
the  love  of  Christ,  they  could  faithfully  labor  to  dis- 
seminate this  gospel,  and  bless  mankind; — and  what- 
ever were  the  persecutions,  or  external  hardships  they 
met  with,  they  were  yet  the  most  happy  of  all  men 
on  earth.     Their  lively  and  exalted  hope  of  immor- 


S08  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

tality,  was  worth  more  than  all  temporal  goods,  or 
worldly  ease. 

But  if  they  hoped  in  Christ  for  nothing  but  temporal 
things,  then  their  hope  was  worth  no  more  than  that 
of  their  unbelieving  enemies.  In  that  case,  by  openly 
professing  the  name  of  Christ,  they  subjected  them- 
selves to  those  additional  troubles  and  persecutions, 
without  the  advantage  of  that  infinitely  valuable  hope 
of  immortality,  to  more  than  counterbalance  them. 

"  But  now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead,  and  become 
the  first-fruits  of  them  that  slept.  For  since  by  man 
came  death,  by  man  came  also  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead.  For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall 
all  be  made  alive." 

It  is  the  grand  object  of  our  present  inquiries,  to 
obtain  a  correct  understanding  of  the  Scriptural  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection.  We  must  understand  what 
the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  is,  before  we  can  know 
whether  to  rejoice,  or  to  mourn,  in  contemplation  of  it. 
Paul  does  not,  while  dwelling  on  this  subject,  call 
upon  the  people  to  choose  whether  they  will  have 
endless  happiness  or  endless  misery,  in  the  future 
state ;  but  he  urges  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  in 
opposition  to  the  doctrine  of  no  future  existence — of 
perishing  like  the  brutes.  And  to  know  whether  to 
rejoice  or  to  mourn  on  account  of  his  doctrine,  I  must 
know  whether  that  resurrection  state  which  Christ 
has  brought  to  light,  is  better  or  worse  than  no  exist- 
ence at  all. 

I  shall  perhaps  look  with  the  more  care  and  dili- 
gence into  this  subject,  on  account  of  the  views  which 
many  of  the  learned  and  pious  of  my  elder  Christian 
brethren  have  entertained  upon  it.  The  views  which 
they  have  held  on  man's  immortal  state,  would  render 


THE    RESURRECTION.  309 

the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  far  more  gloomy  to  me 
than  that  to  which  the  apostle  was  engaged  in  oppos- 
ing it.  Yes,  even  if  I  expected  to  share  with  the  most 
favored  class,  I  should  never  think  on  the  subject  of 
the  resurrection,  but  with  insupportable  pain  and  an- 
guish of  heart.  My  horrors  would  be  as  great,  at 
least,  as  those  expressed  by  Young,  when  he  thus 
approaches  the  subject  of  his  doctrine  on  the  future 
state  : — 

"  Horrors  beneath,  darkness  on  darkness,  hell 
Of  hell,  where  torments  behind  torments  dwell ; 
A  furnace  formidable,  deep  and  wide, 
O'er-boihng  with  a  mad  sulphureous  tide. 
Expands  its  jaws,  most  dreadful  to  survey, 
And  roars  outrageous  for  the  destined  prey. 

#  #  #  #  * 

"  I  faint,  my  tardy  blood  forgets  to  flow, 

My  soul  recoils  at  the  stupendous  woe ; 
That  woe,  those  pangs,  which  from  the  guilty  breast, 
In  these,  or  words  like  these,  shall  be  expressed  :— 

Who  burst  the  barriers  of  my  peaceful  grave  ? 
Ah !  cruel  death,  that  would  no  longer  save. 
But  grudged  me  e'en  that  narrow  dark  abode. 
And  cast  me  out  into  the  wrath  of  God ; 

Where  shrieks  the  roaring  flame,  the  rattling  chain 
And  all  the  dreadful  eloquence  of  pain. 
Our  only  song ;  black  fire's  malignant  light 
The  sole  refreshment  of  the  blasted  sight." 

Such  are  the  vivid  colors,  lurid  with  madness  and 
horror,  in  which  learned  divines  have  portrayed  the 
condition  into  which,  they  say,  the  resurrection  shall 
introduce  countless  milhons  of  our  race.  If  I  can  be 
made  to  believe  it,  I  will  go  sorrowing  all  my  days. 
I  make  no  appeal  to  tlie  selfish  principle  here,— no 
allusion  to  the  class  into  which  I  or  you  may  fall.  I 
speak  as  a  member  of  the  great  intelligent  family,  to 


310  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

whom  existence  is  a  thankless  gift,  unless  it  is  on  the 
whole  a  blessing,  and  around  the  whole  circle  of 
whom  should  flow  the  spirit  of  the  royal  law,  "  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  Who,  in  the 
exercise  of  this  Christian  spirit,  even  forgetting  him- 
self as  to  his  own  allotment,  would  not  regard  as  a 
calamity,  a  source  of  regret  rather  than  of  hope,  the 
resurrection,  as  a  whole,  of  the  human  family,  in  the 
light  of  those  human  doctrines  'I 

Now  the  true  Christian  "faith  is  the  substance  of 
things  hoped  for  f^''  and  by  its  influence  upon  the 
mind  it  produces  "joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."  ** 
Suppose  there  is  a  family  who  are  living  in  the 
enjoyment  of  kind  affection,  and  of  a  common  share 
of  earthly  good.  But  they  have  no  hope  of  a  life  to 
come ;  and  when  they  think  of  death,  as  certain  soon 
to  sever  those  ties  of  love,  and  quench  those  intelli- 
gent spirits,  forever — it  fills  their  minds  with  dark- 
some gloom.  A  member  of  the  loving  group  is  sick 
unto  death,  and  they  are  all  sitting  in  melancholy 
mood,  pondering  upon  their  hopeless  separation.  A 
messenger  enters  their  silent  mansion,  and  professes 
to  come  with  authority  to  assure  them  of  another, 
and  an  endless  life.  They  all  start  up  from  their 
seats  with  joyful  surprise,  and  the  very  dying  child 
rises  up  in  his  bed,  to  hear  the  full  statement  of  the 
messenger.  He  proceeds  to  say,  that  they  shall  all 
be  raised  up  from  the  sleep  of  death,  into  a  life  that 
shall  never  end ; — that  one  half  of  their  number 
shall  be  placed  upon  seats  of  bliss, — and  the  other 
half  plunged  into  a  sea  of  liquid  fire,  looking  up 
with  a  countenance  distorted  with  agony,  crying  for 
the  Power  that  made  them,  to  strike  them  out  of 

a  Hob.  xi.  1.  ^  I  Peter  i.  8,  9. 


THE   RESURRECTION.  311 

being,  and  their  cries  answered  with  scalding  volleys 
of  increasing  vengeance — forever !  Who  could  pic- 
ture the  sad  disappointment  of  the  listening  family  7 
Who  could  describe  the  more  killing  anguish,  and 
the  multiplied  sorrows,  of  such  as  should  believe  the 
message?  Their  turning  to  this  description  of  a 
future  life,  for  relief  from  the  gloomy  thoughts  of 
eternal  sleep,  is  "as  if  a  man  did  flee  from  a  lion, 
and  a  bear  met  him ;  or  went  into  the  house,  and 
laid  his  hand  on  the  wall,  and  a  serpent  bit  him.'" 
They  would  delight  to  go  back,  like  the  subjects  of 
Jupiter  in  the  fable,  to  their  respective  former  allot- 
ments. 

I  do  not  speak  this,  under  an  impression  that  our 
choice  about  these  things  can  alter  the  purpose  of 
God.  I  rejoice  that  it  cannot ;— for  I  verily  believe 
that  the  purpose  of  God  is  such,  that,  when  rightly 
understood,  every  reasonable  being  must  supremely 
prefer  and  admire  it.  But  I  have  made  these  reflec- 
tions to  induce  you  to  a  very  strict  and  prayerful 
inquiry,  whether  the  life  and  immortality  which  Jesus 
brought  to  light  through  his  gospel,  in  a  view  of 
which  saints  of  old,  and  angels  in  heaven  rejoiced, 
is  such,  that  a  benevolent  heart  must  prefer  to  it, 
even  as  a  whole,  the  darkness  of  eternal  non-exist- 
ence for  the  race. 

Upon  this  grand  subject  of  inquiry,  involving  the 
value  of  the  resurrection  to  man,  we  are  now  pre- 
pared to  advance.  And  in  pursuit  of  our  object,  we 
will  methodically  consider  the  key-text  we  have 
chosen ;  and,  in  connection  with  it,  we  will  avail 
ourselves  of  the  light  of  the  context,  and  of  the 
general  Scripture  teachings  on  the  subject. 

c  Amos  V.  9. 


312  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

1st.  ''As  in  Adam  all  die."  Let  it  be  here  ob- 
served, that  the  apostle  does  not  say,  "As  in  Adam 
all  rfiec?,"  six  thousand  years  ago ; — alluding,  as  some 
have  understood  it,  to  the  total  fall  and  corruption  of 
human  nature  in  the  first  transgression.  But,  "  As  in 
Adam  all  die.''''  He  speaks  in  the  present  tense,  im- 
plying a  sense  in  which  all  are  noiv  in  Adam.  Is 
there  any  sense  in  which  mankind  are,  universally, 
in  Adam?  We  are  in  Adam  by  an  inheritance  of 
the  Adamic  or  earthy  nature.  We  are  in  the  image 
of  the  earthy  man.  The  apostle  so  explains  it  after- 
wards in  the  same  chapter.  "  The  first  man  is  of  the 
earth  earthy ;  the  second  man  is  the  Lord  from  hea- 
ven. As  is  the  earthy,  such  are  they  also  that  are 
earthy ;  and  as  is  the  heavenly,  such  are  they  also 
that  are  heavenly.  And  as  we  have  borne  the  image 
of  the  earthy,  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the 
heavenly." 

In  this  earthy  man,  or  in  the  image  of  the  earthy, 
as  exhibited  in  the  first  Adam,  "  all  die."  We  are 
all  partakers  of  mortality  and  death."  "All  flesh  is 
grass,  and  the  glory  of  man  is  as  the  flower  of  grass." 
"  Man  cometh  forth  as  a  flower,  and  is  cut  down, — he 
dieth,  and  wasteth  away." 

2d.  "  Even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive." 
When  you  carefully  consider  here  the  apostle's  antith- 
esis^ his  putting  our  participation  of  life  in  Christ, 
over  against  our  participation  of  mortality  and  death 
in  Adam,  the  sentiment  clearly  expressed  is  this, — 
that  we  shall  then  be  in  Christ  "  even  so,"  or  in  the 
same  sense  in  which  we  are  now  in  Adam ;  that  we 
shall  inherit  his  state  and  nature ; — 'that  Christ  will 
be  as  properly  the  "Head  of  every  man"  in  the 
resurrection  state,  as  Adam  is  reckoned  to  be  in  this ; 


THE    R"ESURRECTION.  313 

— that  we  shall  not  only  be  immortal  like  him,  but 
possessed  of  the  same  moral  nature,  governed  by  the 
same  moral  principles. 

But  Paul  does  not  leave  us  to  gather  this  important 
sentiment  alone  from  an  observation  of  his  antithesis^ 
in  the  text.  Though  it  is  clearly  involved  in  this,  to 
one  who  duly  considers  it, — yet  he  proceeds  directly 
and  distinctly  to  declare  this  essential  fact  in  the 
character  of  the  immortal  state.  This  explanation 
follows  the  text: — "But  every  man  in  his  own 
order :  Christ  the  First-fruits ;  afterwards  they  that 
are  Christ's  at  his  coming.  Then  cometh  the  end, 
when  he  shall  have  delivered  up  the  kingdom  to 
God,  even  the  Father ;  when  he  shall  have  put 
down  all  rule,  and  all  authority  and  power.  For  he 
must  reign,  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under  his 
feet.  The  last  enemy  shall  be  destroyed,  death. 
For  he  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet.  But 
when  he  saith.  All  things  are  put  under  him,  it 
is  manifest  that  he  is  excepted  who  did  put  all 
things  under  him.  And  when  all  things  shall  be 
subdued  unto  him,  then  shall  the  Son  also  himself 
be  subject  to  him  that  put  all  things  under  him, 
that  God  may  be  all  in  all." 

From  this  we  learn,  Jii^st^  that  at  the  resurrection, 
men  will  not  only  be  immortal,  but  also  subject  to 
Christ ; — that  then  will  take  place  the  ultimatum  of 
the  gospel  plan ;  and  Christ,  having  accomplished  his 
work,  and  subjected  all  to  his  blessed  reign,  will 
deliver  up  the  kingdom  to  God  the  Father.  And, 
second,  that  the  all  things  which  are  to  be  subjected 
to  Christ,  comprehend  all  beings  excepting  God,  who 
put  all  things  under  him.  And  also,  third,  that  the 
sense  in  which  all  are  to  be  subject  unto  Christ,  is 
27 


314  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

the  same  as  that  in  which  he  will  be  subject  to  God 
the  Father;  consisting  in  a  willing  and  reverential 
siibmissionj  and  a  oneness  of  mind  and  character. 
For  when  Paul  speaks  of  the  subjection  of  Christ  to 
the  Father,  in  connection  with  the  subjection  of  all 
things  to  Christ,  he  must  have  expressed  a  common 
meaning  by  the  word  subjection,  or  else  there  is  no 
harmony  in  the  sentence.  This  blessed  sense  in 
which  the  human  family  is  to  be  subjected  to  Christ, 
had  been  clearly  expressed  in  the  same  epistle,  in 
the  11th  chapter.  "But  I  would  have  you  to  know 
that  the  head  of  every  man  is  Christ ;  and  the  head 
of  the  woman  is  the  man ;  and  the  Head  of  Christ 
is  God." 

After  having  thus  connected  with  the  resurrection 
this  important  subjection  to  Christ,  this  oneness  of 
mind  with  him, — and  then  considered  some  foolish 
questions  of  his  opposers  relating  to  the  bodies  with 
which  the  dead  should  be  raised,  the  apostle  resumes 
again  his  discourse  on  the  character  of  the  immortal 
state.  "One  star  differeth  from  another  star  in  glory. 
So  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead." — That  is,  as 
God  has  made  many  different  kinds  of  bodies,  and 
has  made  some  stars  to  differ  from  other  stars  in 
glory,  so  also  will  he  make  us  in  the  resurrection 
state  to  be  different  from  what  we  are  in  the  present. 
"So  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  It  is  sown 
in  corruption ;  it  is  raised  in  incorruption :  it  is  sown 
in  dishonor  ;  it  is  raised  in  glory  :  it  is  sown  in  weak- 
ness ;  it  is  raised  in  power :  it  is  sown  a  natural  body ; 
it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body.  There  is  a  natural 
body,  and  there  is  a  spiritual  body.  And  so  it  is 
written.  The  first  man,  Adam,  was  made  a  living 
soul;  the  last  Adam  was  made  a  quickening  spirit. 


THE    RESURRECTION.  31j5 

Howbeit,  that  was  not  first  which  is  spiritual,  but 
that  which  is  natural ;  and  afterwards  that  which  is 
spiritual." — Here  follow  the  three  verses  which  were 
quoted  to  the  subject  of  dying  in  Adam.  They  are 
further  explanatory  of  the  text,  showing  the  sense  in 
which  we  are  in  Adam,  and  in  which  we  shall  be 
in  Christ.  "The  first  man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy; 
the  second  man  is  the  Lord  from  heaven.  As  is 
the  earthy,  such  are  they  also  that  are  earthy ;  and 
as  is  the  heavenly,  sach,  are  they  also  that  are  hea- 
venly. And  as  Ave  have  borne  the  image  of  the 
earthy,  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  hea- 
venly." 

Further  he  says,  "  This  corruptible  must  put  on 
incorruption,  and  this  mortal  must  put  on  immortal- 
ity. So  when  this  corruptible  shall  have  put  on 
incorruption,  and  this  mortal  shall  have  put  on  im- 
mortality, then  shall  be  brought  to  pass  the  saying 
that  is  written.  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory." 
This  saying  Paul  quoted  from  the  prophet  Isaiah : — 
"  He  will  swallow  up  death  in  victory,  and  the  Lord 
God  will  wipe  away  tears  from  off  all  faces."'* 
Hence  it  appears  that  the  immortal  state  is  free 
from  all  cause  of  pain  and  sorrow,  so  that  when 
death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory,  tears  will  be  wiped 
away  from  off  all  faces.  The  whole  resurrection  is 
like  the  First-fruits.  "  Now  is  Christ  risen  from  the 
dead,  and  become  the  First-fruits  of  them  that  slept." 
And  the  same  writer  lays  it  down  as  a  theological 
axiom,  "If  the  first-fruits  be  holy,  the  lump  is  also 
holy." 

The  same  is  the  doctrine  which  Jesus  taught,  with 
great  plainness,  concerning  the  resurrection  state.    In 

d  Isa.  XXV.  8. 


316  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

controversy  with  the  Sadducees,  who  say  there  is  no 
resurrection,  Jesus  said,  (Matt.  xxii.  29,  30,)  "Ye  do 
greatly  err,  not  knowing  the  Scriptures,  nor  the  power 
of  God.  For  in  the  resurrection  they  neither  marry 
nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are  as  the  angels  of 
God  in  heaven."  Here  the  whole  subject  of  the  resur- 
rection is  before  them ; — the  question  is,  whether  the 
human  species  are  to  live  again  after  death.  The 
Sadducees  say,  no.  And  they  now  bring  a  case  of  a 
woman  who  had  seven  husbands,  in  order  to  present 
some  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the  regulation  of  society 
in  the  future  state.  They  do  not  appear  to  conceive 
any  question,  but  that,  according  to  Jesus'  doctrine  of 
the  resurrection,  the  woman,  and  the  seven  men  who 
had  been  her  husbands,  would  all  live  again,  and  all 
in  the  same  world ^  as  much  as  they  did  on  earth. 

And  Jesus,  in  his  answer,  did  not  undertake  to  de- 
scribe how  that  probably  a  part  of  the  persons  they 
spoke  of  would  be  howling  in  infinite  torments,  and 
the  others  rejoicing  over  them ; — nor  did  he  undertake 
to  frighten  them  into  a  profession  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  resurrection,  by  telling  them  that  they  would  find 
it  true  when  it  would  be  too  late  for  them  to  be  bene- 
fited by  it.  No ; — He  answers  with  a  dignity  well 
becoming  a  divine  teacher :  "  Ye  do  greatly  err,  not 
knowing  the  Scriptures,  nor  the  power  of  God.  For 
in  the  resurrection  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given 
in  marriage;  but  are  as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven." 
And  then,  in  support  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, he  refers  them  to  their  own  Scriptures,  where 
God  spoke  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  long  after 
their  death,  in  such  a  manner  as  recognized  them  still 
in  existence,  or  destined  yet  to  live.  Here  the  fact  is 
distinctly  stated,  that  the  resurrection  state  is,  without 


THE    RESURRECTION.  317 

any  limitation  or  reserve,  as  the  state  of  the  angels  of 
God  in  heaven. 

Jesus  is  represented  as  declaring  this  sentiment  with 
equal  plainness,  in  Luke  xx.  35,  36: — "But  they 
which  shall  be  accounted  worthy  to  obtain  that  world, 
and  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  neither  marry,  nor 
are  given  in  marriage :  neither  can  they  die  any 
more ;  for  they  are  equal  unto  the  angels ;  and  are  the 
children  of  God,  being  the  children  of  the  resurrec- 
tion." 

Jesus  leaves  no  room  for  the  notion  that  there  will 
be  an  immortal  slate,  in  which  men  will  continue  in 
sin  and  shame,  the  characteristic  children  of  the 
wicked  one.  ''They,"  without  distinction,  '-'■they 
which  shall  be  accounted  worthy  to  obtain  the  resur- 
rection from  the  dead,  shall  be  equal  unto  the  angels ; 
and  are  the  children  of  God,  being  the  children  of  the 
resurrection." 

Hence  it  is  certain,  that  if  there  are  any  who  will 
not  become  sharers  of  a  glorious  and  happy  immortal- 
ity, being  children  of  God, — they  will  never  be  raised 
at  all  into  an  immortal  state.  For  the  gospel  reveals 
no  other.  There  is  a  sect  of  Christians,  sometimes 
called  annihilationists^  who  believe  there  are  some 
such, — some  who  will  never  be  raised  again  from  the 
dead.  And  they  have  used  the  Scripture  last  quoted 
as  favoring  their  views.  They  have  laid  particular 
emphasis  on  the  word,  worthy.  "  They  which  shall  be 
accounted  looriliy  to  obtain  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead."  This  they  have  considered  to  apply  exclu- 
sively to  a  particular  class,  whose  virtues  entitle  them 
to  an  immortal  state  of  being,  as  a  just  reward. 

But  an  attention  to  the  general  doctrine  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  a  due  consideration  of  the  several  records 
27** 


318  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

made  of  this  same  discom-se  of  our  Lord  to  the  Sad- 
ducees,  will  expose  the  incorrectness  of  this  opinion. 
Though  this  doctrine  is  not  a  millionth  part  so  appal- 
ling as  that  popular  doctrine  which  we  quoted  from 
Young,  yet  its  glory  is  not  worthy  to  be  compared 
with  that  of  the  gospel.  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles 
urge  the  doctrine  of  suitable  rewards  and  punishmentSj 
pending  the  conduct  of  men ;  but  they  never  give 
out  the  idea,  that  a  future  immortal  state  of  existence 
is  either  to  be  bought  or  sold  by  the  doings  of  men  in 
time.  If  such  had  been  the  sentiment  which  Jesus 
expressed  to  the  Sadducees ;  if  the  word  worthy  was 
applied  to  the  moral  desert  of  men,  as  procuring  for 
themselves  a  resurrection  state, — then  this  would  cer- 
tainly have  been  the  most  important  word  in  the 
whole  conversation.  It  would  have  contained  a  point 
in  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  which  every  faith- 
ful witness  would  have  kept  foremost^  whenever  he 
spoke  or  wrote  on  the  subject. 

Rut  of  the  three  Evangelists  who  have  recorded  this 
discourse  of  Jesus,  two  have  not  used  the  word  worthy 
at  all.  Matthew  writes,  '■^For  in  the  resurrection — 
they  are  as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven."  And  Mark, 
(xii.  25,)  "  For  when  they  shall  rise  from  the  dead, — 
they  are  as  the  angels  which  are  in  heaven."  Now, 
although  there  are  frequently  some  verbal  differences 
in  the  records  which  the  several  Evangehsts  have 
made  of  the  same  discourses  of  Christ,  yet  they  are 
all  particular  to  give  every  important  idea ;  they  omit 
no  distinguishing  point  of  doctrine,  which  any  dis- 
course they  record  was  meant  to  enforce.  This  con- 
sideration, together  with  the  general  sentiment  of  the 
Scriptures,  obliges  us  to  conclude  that  the  word  ivorthy^ 
which  IiUls:c  alone  has  used  in  this  case,  (and  he  is  the 


THE   RESURRECTION.  319 

Evangelist  who  did  not  personally  hear  the  words  of 
Jesus,)  was  not  intended  to  apply  to  the  moral  desert 
of  human  conduct,  but  to  the  worth  or  value  which 
God  sets  upon  his  creatures,  according  to  the  scale  of 
being  in  which  he  has  placed  them.      The  same  idea 
is  expressed  by  the  word  vahie^  in  Matt.  x.  31;  "Ye 
are  of  more  value  than  many  sparrows;"— and  also 
the  word  better,  in  Matt.  vi.  26 ;  "  Behold  the  fowls  of 
the  air!  are  ye  not  much  better  than  they?"    Moral 
desert  could  not  have  been  meant  by  the  words  value 
and  better,  because  in  this  respect  there  is  no  com- 
parison between  man  and  the  fowls  and   sparrows. 
The  reference  was  to  God's  estimate  of  them  as  his 
intelligent  children.     So  of  the  word  worthy  in  the 
case  before  us.     In  this  view,  the  three  Evangelists 
represent  Christ  as  speaking  the  same  sentiment,  viz., 
that  they  on  whom  God  sets  such  value  as  that  he  de- 
signs to  give  them  a  resurrection  from  the  dead,  shall 
be  as  the  angels  in  heaven,  and  characteristic  children 
of  God.     And  who  are  they?    Answer:    The  human 
species.     " For  as  in  Adam  all  die;  even  so  in  Christ 
shall  all  be  made  alive."     "  There  shall  be  a  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead,  both  of  the  just  and  the  unjust."" 

In  the  latter  passage,  while  we  have  an  answer  to 
the  question,  "who  shall  share  in  the  resurrection 7 " 
and  an  answer,  too,  which  precludes  all  cavil  as  to  its 
speaking  of  the  whole  race,  or  a  particular  class  of 
men,  we  have  also  a  clear  indication  of  the  character 
of  that  state.  The  resurrection  of  mankind,  even  of 
the  unjust,  was  to  the  apostle  an  object  of  hope.  This 
he  could  not  have  said  if  he  had  believed  the  unjust 
would  be  raised  up,  and  held  up  in  being  forever,  for 
the  sake  of  an  endless  existence  of  suffering.     If  Paul 

e  Acts  xxiv.  15. 


320  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

had  believed  this,  he  would  have  said  of  it  as  he  said 
of  the  foreseen  temporal  sufferings  of  the  Jews,  that 
the  contemplation  occasioned  "  great  heaviness  and 
sorrow."  But  hope  involves  expectation  and  desire ; 
and  to  charge  the  benevolent  soul  of  the  apostle  with 
desiring  an  existence  of  infinite  evil  to  a  portion  of 
his  fellow-creatures,  would  be  an  outrage  of  common 
decency.  No ;  the  inspired  ministers  of  Jesus  viewed 
the  universal  resurrection  of  the  dead,  as  altogether  a 
subject  of  thanksgiving  and  praise,  of  consolation  and 
hope.  And  there  is  no  testimony  of  the  Scriptures, 
which  evidently  relates  to  the  literal  resurrection, 
which  contradicts  this  sentiment  of  hope,  or  casts  a 
shade  upon  it.  The  gift  of  immortal  life  to  man  is 
not  according  to  the  purpose  of  God  alone,  but  it  is  ac- 
cording to  the  purpose  and  grace  of  God,  which  are 
brought  to  light  through  the  gospel.^ 

Resurrection  to  Condemnation. 

There  are  a  few  passages  in  the  sacred  Volume, 
which  have  been  thought  by  some  to  teach  a  different 
doctrine;  and  these  we  will  examine  at  the  present 
stage  of  our  progress.  The  most  important  text  of  the 
class  referred  to,  is  that  in  John  v.  28,  29:  ^^ Marvel 
not  at  this :  for  the  hour  is  coming,  in  the  which  all  that 
are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come 
forth  ;  they  that  have  done  good  unto  the  resurrection 
of  life;  and  they  that  have  done  evil  unto  the  resurrection 
of  damnation.''^ 

These  words  were  pronounced  by  our  Lord  before 
the  unbelieving  Jews,  when  they  had  been  seeking  to 
kill  him  because  he  healed  an  impotent  man  on  the 

f2  Tim.  i.  9,  10. 


RESURRECTION    TO   CONDEMNATION.  321 

Sabbath  day,  and  also  called  God  his  Father,  making 
himself,  as  they  construed  it,  equal  with  God.  Much 
reliance  has  been  placed  on  this  text,  by  some,  for  sup- 
port to  the  sentiment  of  endless  guilt  and  condemna- 
tion. They  have  supposed  it  to  be  a  declaration  of 
the  literal  resurrection  of  all  men  from  the  state  of  the 
dead,  into  a  final,  fixed,  and  eternal  state ; — a  state  of 
unalterable  happiness  to  some,  and  of  unalterable 
misery  to  others,  according  to  their  works  on  earth. 

If  this  be  the  sense  of  the  text  before  us,  we  wish  to 
know  it.  No  person  in  his  right  mind  can  wish  to  be 
deceived,  or  to  misunderstand  the  word  of  God.  Truth 
will  stand.  And  so  far  as  we  deceive  ourselves,  if  it 
be  by  any  abuse  of  the  opportunities  we  have  for  correct 
information,  we  must  suffer  a  just  punishment  for  our 
iniquity.  Every  sober  man's  inquiry  is,  What  is 
truth  ?  When  he  reads  and  considers  any  portion  of 
the  Scriptures,  his  fervent  desire  is,  to  know  what  the 
inspired  writer  or  speaker  meant.  He  is  equally  cau- 
tious against  taking  from,  and  adding  to,  the  word,  in 
any  case.  For  one  of  these  practices  as  well  as  the 
other,  is  treating  with  disrespect  that  wisest  and  best 
of  Beings,  by  v/hose  inspiration  the  Holy  Scriptures 
came.  It  is,  in  effect,  to  say,  that  He  is  not  so  capa- 
ble as  ive^  to  plan  a  system  of  religion  to  be  revealed 
to  mankind.  Under  a  solemn  sense  of  our  own  little- 
ness, and  of  the  unerring  wisdom  of  Him,  who  dehv- 
ered  the  words  above  quoted,  let  us  proceed  with 
impartial  candor,  and  prayerful  earnestness,  to  seek 
the  true  meaning  of  his  speech. 

It  is  my  usual  custom,  when  inquiring  into  the 
meaning  of  an  important  text  upon  which  many  learned 
and  pious  of  my  elder  Christian  brethren  have  given 
an  opinion,  in  respect  to  them,  and  in  dislike  to  all 


322  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

needless  innovation,  to  examine  their  opinions  first; 
and  viewing  them  by  the  light  of  Scripture,  to  follow 
them  so  far  as  they  have  followed  the  Divine  testi- 
mony. This  course  I  will  pursue  in  the  present  case. 
1.  I  have  already  mentioned  the  popular  opinion, 
that  the  text  relates  to  the  introduction  of  all  men  into 
a  final  and  unalterable  state.  But  here  we  deem  it  a 
solemn  duty  to  inquire,  what  is  the  Scriptural  author- 
ity for  such  an  opinion  7  There  is  certainly  nothing 
in  the  text,  nor  in  the  context,  which  authorizes  the 
opinion  that  Jesus  here  spoke  of  all  men  being  intro- 
duced into  an  unalterable  state.  The  declaration  is 
simply  this:  "The  hour  is  coming,  in  the  which  afl 
that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall 
come  forth ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resur- 
rection of  life ;  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the 
resurrection  of  damnation."  Nothing  is  here  said 
about  their  condition  becoming  unchangeable.  Where 
then  shall  we  find  support  for  this  opinion  1  Do  the 
tScripticres  in  general,  when  speaking  on  the  state  and 
kingdom  which  God  will  fix  and  make  unalterable, 
afford  us  any  good  reason  for  understanding  the  text 
in  the  sense  which  is  now  in  question  7  Very  far  from 
it.  Jesus  here  speaks  of  some  men  coming  forth  into 
a  state  of  condemnation.  Now  is  it  the  sentiment  of 
Scripture  in  general,  that  a  state  of  sin  and  condemna- 
tion is  ever  to  be  established  of  God,  as  a  final,  fixed, 
and  unalterable  state  7  Every  person  who  is  conver- 
sant with  the  Scriptures  knows  better.  To  what  part 
of  the  Bible  will  you  direct  me,  that  I  may  find  the 
word  of  Jehovah  pledged,  for  his  building  up,  immor- 
talizing, and  unchangeably  fixing  the  reign  of  darkness 
and  condemnation  7  You  will  not  undertake  to  show 
me  a  text  which  speaks  so  strange  a  sentiment.     The 


RESURRECTION    TO    CONDEMNATION.  323 

word  of  God  engages  for  the  support  of  the  opposite 
cause,  that  of  holiness  and  peace ;  and  for  the  putting 
down  of  the  reign  of  evil.  In  execution  of  his  word, 
he  has  commissioned  and  ordained  his  Son,  and  given 
him  all  power  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  to  destroy  sin, 
and  subdue  all  things  to  himself — to  his  own  holy 
reign.  This  has  been  abundantly  exemplified  in  pre- 
ceding parts  of  this  volume. 

Now,  since  it  is  an  undeniable  truth,  that  with  the 
annihilation  of  sin,  and  the  subjection  and  reconcilia- 
tion of  all  men  to  God,  guilt  and  condemnation  will 
cease,  it  follows  of  course  that  God,  whose  revealed 
purpose  is  that  sin  shall  be  destroyed,  and  all  men 
reconciled  to  him,  does  not  design  to  establish  a  state 
of  guilt  and  condemnation  as  a  final  and  unalterable 
state.  For  surely  he  has  not  two  purposes  directly 
opposite  to  each  other.  He  has  not  purposed  to  make 
eternal  like  his  own  existence,  that  which  he  has  pur- 
posed to  destroy. 

Forasmuch  then  as  our  text  does  not  suggest  that 
the  state  of  condemnation  into  which  it  says  that  some 
'^  shall  come  forth,"  is  their  final  and  unalterable  state ; 
and  the  word  of  inspiration  elsewhere  recorded  forbids 
the  supposition  that  a  state  of  guilt  and  condemnation 
ever  will  be  unchangeably  fixed, — we  cannot  adopt 
the  common  opinion  on  this  Scripture.  Even  admit- 
ting that  Christ  here  spoke  of  the  literal  j^esurrection 
with  immortal  bodies^  we  cannot  admit  that  he  spoke 
of  the  introduction  of  all  into  an  vmalterable  state  of 
mind.  For  if  when  all  are  raised  with  immortal 
bodies,  some  are  in  a  state  of  guilt  and  condemnation 
of  mind,  in  opposition  to  Christ, — though  their  bodies 
may  not  be  changed,  there  must  be  yet  a  change  of 
mind.     For  Christ  must  reign,  and  will  not  deliver  up 


324  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY, 

his  kingdom  to  God  the  Father,  until  he  has  subdued 
and  reconciled  all  to  himself.  So  long,  therefore,  as  a 
single  mind  remains  in  opposition  to  Christ,  his  whole 
work  is  not  done,  and  there  must  of  course  be  yet 
some  further  change. 

Having  ascertained  that  Christ  in  the  words  before 
us,  whether  he  spoke  of  the  literal  resurrection  or  not, 
did  not  teach  the  introduction  of  all  men  into  their 
final  and  unalterable  condition  of  onind,  we  are  now  led 
to  question  whether  he  did  speak  with  reference  to  the 
literal  resurrection. 

What  is  the  evidence,  we  inquire,  that  Jesus  here 
spoke  of  the  literal  resurrection  ?  Do  you  rely  on  the 
particular  language  which  he  used '?  On  the  phrase, 
*'A11  that  are  in  the  graves — shall  come  forth  7"  It 
does  not  follow  from  this  that  the  literal  resurrection 
was  meant ;  for  such  language  is  sometimes  used  in 
the  Scriptures  in  a  figurative  sense.  Indeed,  most 
words  and  phrases  which  literally  express  any  state, 
or  condition,  or  local  situation  of  man,  or  apply  to 
natural  objects  in  the  earth,  are  also  used  in  a  figura- 
tive sense,  with  application  to  various  subjects. 

The  TYiountain  is  used  for  exaltation  and  stability  ; 
as  in  Isa.  ii.  2:  "The  7nountain  of  the  Lord's  house 
shall  be  established  in  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  and 
shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills ;  and  all  nations  shall 
flow  unto  it."  Here  the  true  religion  of  heaven  is  called 
a  mountain,  to  signify  its  exalted  character,  and  per- 
manent establishment.  The  7'ock  is  likewise  employed 
as  an  emblem,  to  represent  permaneiicy  and  2^e?]fection  ; 
as  in  Deut.  xxxii.  4:  *'  He  is  a  Bock,  his  work  is  per- 
fect." And  as  the  perfection  of  God  and  the  perma- 
nency of  his  word  are  represented  by  the  7'ock,  they 
who  trust  in  him  and  walk  in  the  light  of  his  counte- 


RESURRECTION    TO    CONDEMNATION.  325 

nance,  are  said  to  stand  upon  a  rock ; — while  the  op- 
posite unsettled  state  of  unbelief  and  sin,  is  figura- 
tively represented  by  the  horrible  pit  and  miry  clay  ; 
as  in  Ps.  xl.  20:  ''He  hath  brought  me  up  also  out 
of  the  horrible  pit,  and  of  the  miry  clay,  and  set  my 
feet  upon  a  rock,  and  established  my  goings."  The 
prison-house  is  likewise  used  as  an  emblem  in  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  to  signify  the  dark  and  enslaved 
state  of  mind  from  which  Christ  would  redeem  sin- 
ners. See  Isa.  xlii.  6,  7 :  "I  will  give  thee  for  a  cove- 
nant of  the  people,  for  a  light  of  the  Gentiles ;  to  open 
the  blind  eyes,  to  bring  out  the  prisoners  from  the 
prison,  and  them  that  sit  in  darkness  out  of  the  prison- 
house."  The  terms  sleep ^  and  death^  are  figuratively 
used  to  express  a  carnal  and  stupid  state  of  mind. 
And  coming  out  of  this  stupid  state  is  called  awaking^ 
and  arising  from  the  dead ; — as  in  Paul  to  the  Ephe- 
sians :  "Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the 
dead,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light." 

The  term  grave  is  also  used  as  an  emblem,  to  de- 
note a  very  low,  degraded  and  oppressed  condition. 
And  the  redemption  of  persons  from  this  low  state  of 
trouble,  is  called  their  being  brought  up  out  of  their 
graves.  See  Ezek.  xxxvii.  11,  12,  13 :  "  Then  he  said 
unto  me,  Son  of  man,  these  bones  are  the  whole  house 
of  Israel :  behold,  they  say,  Our  bones  are  dried,  and 
our  hope  is  lost :  we  are  cut  off  for  our  parts.  There- 
fore prophesy  and  say  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
God,  O  my  people,  I  will  open  your  graves,  and  cause 
you  to  come  up  out  of  your  graves,  and  bring  you  into 
the  land  of  Israel.  And  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the 
Lord,  when  I  have  opened  your  graves,  and  brought 
you  up  out  of  your  graves, — and  shall  place  you  in 
your  own  land."  Here  the  redemption  of  the  Jews 
28 


326  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

from  their  seventy  years'  Babylonish  captivity,  was 
signified  to  them  by  the  promise  of  God,  that  he  would 
cause  them  to  come  up  out  of  their  graves,  to  inherit 
the  land  of  Israel. 

And  now  I  inquire,  what  reason  have  you  to  offer  why 
we  should  not  understand  that  this  coming  forth  from 
the  graves^  under  consideration,  is  likewise  a  figurative 
expression  of  some  change  of  condition  with  persons 
living  on  the  earth.  The  Greek  word  rendered  graves 
in  this  case  is  the  same,  or  a  derivative  from  the  same, 
that  the  LXX.  use  for  graves  in  the  12th  verse  of  the 
passage  just  cited  from  Ezekiel.  It  is  not  hades^  the 
state  of  death,  from  which  the  Scriptures  represent 
that  the  literal  resurrection  brings  mankind ;  but  it  is 
mnemeia^  the  tombs^  graves^  or  sepulchres.  Therefore, 
if  we  apply  the  text  to  the  literal  resurrection,  we 
shall  make  it  a  very  partial  resurrection,  the  resurrec- 
tion only  of  such  as  have  been  regularly  buried.  But 
thousands  have  lived  and  died,  who  were  never  in- 
terred in  miiemeia  or  graves.  The  bodies  of  the  ante- 
diluvians mouldered  to  dust  upon  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  The  bodies  of  the  Sodomites  were  burnt  to 
ashes,  and  their  ashes  probably  scattered  to  the  four 
winds  of  heaven.  The  same  has  been  the  fate  of  mul- 
titudes of  others,  both  of  the  wicked  and  the  just. 
And  the  carcases  of  thousands  of  Jews,  who  perished 
in  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans,  were  food 
to  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  the  fowls  of  the  air. 

But  though  there  have  been  so  many  thousands  of 
the  human  species  who  were  never  interred  in  sepul- 
chres or  graves,  yet  they  all  went  to  hades^  the  state 
of  death.  Jacob  said  of  his  son  Joseph,  "I  will  go 
down  into  hades  to  my  son  mourning."^     He  did  not 

s  Gen.  xxxvii.  35. 


RESURRECTION    TO   CONDEMNATION.  327 

mean  by  hades  any  single  grave  or  tomb,  for  he  did 
not  suppose  that  Joseph  was  entombed.  He  beheved 
that  Joseph  was  eaten  up  by  an  evil  beast.  But  it 
was  into  the  unseen  state  of  death  that  Jacob  expected 
to  go,  to  be  like  his  beloved  son.  Hades  is  used  to 
express  this  state,  and  it  is  from  this  state  that  the 
resurrection  is  represented  as  raising  mankind.  The 
Scripture  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  dust  which  is  deposited  in  mnemeia^  the 
tombs  ;  it  relates  to  the  raising  of  the  intellectucd  man 
from  hades^  the  state  of  death.*"  He  who  is  the  resur- 
rection and  the  life  proclaims  his  purpose,  saying, 
''O  death,  I  will  be  thy  plagues !  O  hades,  I  will  be 
thy  destruction  !"'  And  when  the  resurrection  of  all 
men  is  completed,  then  the  triumphant  exclamation 
will  be  raised,  "O  death,  Avhere  is  thy  sting?  O 
hades,  (state  of  death,)  where  is  thy  victory?"^     The 

h  When  that  spiritual  part  of  man,  which,  being  organized  with  the 
grosser  earthy  matter,  constitutes  him  a  living,  rational,  and  moral  being, 
goes  out  at  death  into  a  disorganized  state,  that  disorganized  state  is  what 
is  expressed  by  the  term  hades,  state  of  death.  It  is  the  state  in  which  Sol- 
omon says,  (Eccl.  ix.  10,)  "  There  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor 
wisdom."  But  when  this  same  spirit,  be  it  sooner  or  later,  is,  by  the  omnific 
povrer  of  God,  regci>erated  in  organized  bodies  of  the  refined  and  heavenly 
substance,  preserving  its  identity  and  resuming  its  consciousness,  this  be- 
comes a  perfect  resurrection  from  hades; — and  this  second  organized  man  is 
not  of  the  dust  of  the  ground — is  not  of  the  earth,  earthy  ;  but  is  of  the  hea- 
venly substance,  or  heavenly  nature.  As  we  have  seen,  "  The  first  man  is 
of  the  earth,  earthy  ;  the  second  man  is  the  Lord  from  heaven.  And  as  we 
have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  hea- 
venly." (1  Cor.  XV.  47,  49.)  "For  we  know  that  if  our  earthly  house  of 
this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  an  house  not 
made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  For  in  this  v/e  groan,  earnestly 
desiring  to  be  clothed  upon  with  our  house  which  is  from  heaven  ; — that 
mortality  might  be  swallowed  up  of  life."  (2  Cor.  v.  1,  4.)  Then  will 
this  mortal  put  on  immortality ;  that  is,  we,  as  rational  beings,  who  here 
exist  in  mortal  constitutions,  shall  then  exist  in  constitutions  immortal  and 
heavenly. 

i  Hos.  xiii.  14.  J  1  Cor.  xv.  55. 


328  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

circumstance,  thereforCj  that  the  text  speaks  of  a 
coming  forth  from  mnemeia^  the  tomhs^  into  which 
there  are  thousands  of  the  dead  who  have  never  en- 
tered, and  with  which  the  literal  resurrection  has  no 
concern, — this  circumstance,  I  say,  argues  strongly  in 
favor  of  this  Scripture's  heing  taken,  like  the  coming 
up  out  of  mjiemeia,  the  tombs  or  graves,  in  Ezekiel,  as 
a  figurative  expression  of  some  event  on  the  earth. 

Where,  then,  is  the  argument  for  applying  this 
Scripture  to  the  subject  of  the  literal  resurrection? 
Will  you  refer  me  to  the  context  ?  Will  you  say  that 
the  context  shows  that  Jesus  was  speaking  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  literal  resurrection  7  I  answer,  the  context^ 
so  far  from  showing  that  Christ  spoke  in  the  text  of 
the  literal  resurrection,  favors^  and  perhaps  I  may  say. 
authorizes  the  conclusion,  that  the  text  was  intended 
to  be  taken  in  a  figurative  sense.  Begin  at  the  24th 
verse:  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  He  that  re- 
ceiveth  my  words,  and  believeth  on  him  that  sent  me, 
hath  everlasting  life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condem- 
nation :  but  is  passed  from  death  unto  life."  Here  is 
a  passing  from  death  unto  life  spoken  of,  which  all 
will  allow  to  he  Jigiiraiive ;  meaning  the  passing  out 
of  unbelief  and  its  concomitant  evils,  signified  by  the 
term,  death,  into  faith  in  Christ  and  its  connected 
blessings,  expressed  by  the  term,  life. 

Jesus  proceeds,  "  Yerily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  The 
hour  is  coming,  and  now  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear 
the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  they  that  hear  shall 
live."  Christ  in  this  verse  repeats  the  sentiment 
expressed  in  the  preceding,  but  with  this  addition. 
While  in  the  preceding  verse  he  simply  stated  that 
whosoever  receiveth  his  word  hath  passed  from  death 
unto  life,  in  this  he  emphatically  declares  and  engages 


RESURRECTION   TO   CONDEMNATION.  329 

his  own  agency  in  causing  the  dead  to  hear  and  receive 
his  voice,  and  to  pass  from  death  unto  hfe:  saying, 
"  The  hour  is  coming  and  now  is,  when  the  dead 
shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,"  &c.  To 
show  the  fulfilment  of  this,  St.  Paul,  a  considerable 
time  afterwards,  said  to  a  numerous  circle  of  brethren, 
"You  hath  he  quickened^  who  were  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins." 

Now,  considering  that  Jesus  spoke  the  words  of  this 
text  while  he  was  thus  engaged  in  discoursing  on  a  fig- 
urative resurrection,  and  that  he  did  not  intimate  that 
he  changed  his  subject  from  a  figurative  to  the  literal 
resurrection,  we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  any 
such  change  of  subject  was  made.  Even  should  we 
say  nothing  of  other  reasons  against  taking  this  text  in 
a  literal  sense,  the  connection  in  which  it  is  found 
rather  requires  us  to  consider  it  figurative. 

But  I  have  another,  and  a  very  important  circum- 
stance to  present,  which  bears  with  great  weight 
against  the  common  opinion  on  this  Scripture.  The 
circumstance  is  this.  Wherever  the  literal  resurrection 
is  evidently  spoken  of,  it  is  represented  as  introducing 
mankind  into  a  state  free  from  all  sin,  and  guilt,  and 
shame,  even  as  the  angels  of  God  that  are  in  heaven. 
The  proofs  of  this  fact  have  been,  thus  far,  the  main 
business  of  this  chapter. 

From  the  foregoing  considerations  it  appears  abun- 
dantly evident,  that  this  text,  which  speaks  of  some 
coming  forth  "  to  the  resurrection  of  condemnation," 
is  not  on  the  subject  of  the  literal  resurrection.  And 
since  the  lajiguage  of  the  text  will  admit  of  being  con- 
strued as  figurative^  and  the  context  requires  such  a 
construction,  and  the  testimony  of  Scripture  in  general 
28* 


330  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

forbids  any  other, — we  can,  with  full  satisfaction, 
dismiss  the  common  opinion  concerning  it ;  and  pro- 
ceed— 

2d.  To  inquire  for  the  true  meaning  of  this  Scrip- 
ture. 

Jesus  had  just  said  that  they  who  received  his  word 
had  passed  from  death  unto  life;  and  that  the  hour 
was  coming  and  then  was,  when  the  dead  should  hear 
his  voice  and  live.  "For,"  said  he,  "as  the  Father 
hath  life  in  himself,  so  hath  he  given  to  the  Son 
to  have  life  in  himself.  And  hath  given  him  author- 
ity to  execute  judgment  also,  because  he  is  the  Son 
of  man." 

"  Marvel  not  at  this."  Marvel  not  at  what?  Mar- 
vel not  at  what  I  have  said  concerning  the  efficacy  of 
my  word  to  affect  the  state  and  condition  of  those  who 
receive  it,  and  of  my  authority  to  execute  judgment ; 
"for  the  hour  is  coming  in  which"  you  shall  witness 
my  "  authority  to  execute  judgment,"  and  see  a  more 
extensive  display  of  Divine  power;  when  not  only 
those  who  receive  my  word  shall  realize  the  sway  of 
my  authority,  but  even  those  who  continue  to  be  my 
enemies  and  persecutors  shall  feel  the  effect  of  the  judg- 
ment which  God  hath  given  me  to  execute.  "All 
that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall 
come  forth."  That  is,  all  who  may  be  in  situations 
resembling  in  some  respects  the  dead  in  the  tombs, 
shall  be  aroused  by  the  judgments  which  I  shall  exe- 
cute. "  They  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrec- 
tion of  life,  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the 
resurrection  of  damnation."  That  is,  they  that  have 
done  well  shall  come  into  a  confirmed  and  more 
full  enjoyment  of  life  and  happiness ;  and  they  that 
have  continued  in  unbelief  and  evil  doing,  shall  be 


RESURRECTION   TO  CONDEMNATION.  331 

aroused  to  their  full  measure  of  guilt  and  condemna- 
tion. 

Now  of  what  display  of  his  authority  to  execute 
judgment,  then  coming,  is  it  most  likely  that  Jesus 
spoke?  The  judgment  on  which  the  other  three 
Evangelists  have,  by  their  records,  represented  Christ 
as  speaking  more  frequently  and  emphatically  than  on 
any  other  particular  judgment,  is  that  which  was  to 
inflict  the  dreadful  punishment  upon  the  disobedient 
Jews,  of  which  Moses  and  the  prophets  had  long  fore- 
warned them.  And  since  Christ,  according  to  the 
other  three  Evangelists,  spoke  so  frequently  and  so 
emphatically  upon  this  judgment,  representing  it  to 
be  the  most  terrible  that  ever  was  or  ever  shall  he^  it 
would  have  been  strange  if  John  had  passed  this  sub- 
ject entirely  unnoticed,  and  never  once  introduced  it 
in  all  his  narrative.  But  there  is  no  discourse  of 
Christ  which  John  has  recorded,  that  more  evidently 
refers  to  this  judgment  than  the  text  before  us.  It 
speaks  of  a  wonderful  display  of  the  power  and  au- 
thority of  Christ  to  execute  judgment,  and  a  striking 
distinction  between  those  that  do  good  and  those  that 
do  evil.  And  the  discourses  of  Christ  recorded  by  the 
other  Evangelists,  on  the  judgment  which  was  then 
coming  upon  the  Jews  in  that  generation,  call  it  em- 
phatically, The  revelation  of  the  So?i  of  man  in  j)oicer 
and  great  glory ;  ^  and  speak  of  the  same  distinction 
of  character;  of  the  awarding  of  life  and  favor  to 
faithful  disciples,  and  shame  and  distress  to  the  wicked 
and  disobedient.  And  you  will  further  bear  in  mind, 
that  Jesus  addressed  these  words  to  that  same  people 
whom  the  judgment  then  coming  in  that  generation 

k  See  Matt.  xvi.  27,  28  ;  xxiv.  30  ;  xxv.  31.    Mark  xiii.  26.    Luke  xxi. 
22,  27. 


332  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

was  to  arouse  to  the  suffering  of  shame  and  condem- 
nation. And  he  addressed  them  on  the  same  occa- 
sion on  which  the  other  EvangeUsts  represent  him 
as  speaking  to  them  most  pointedly  concerning  that 
judgment;  viz.,  the  occasion  of  their  determined  oppo- 
sition to  his  wholesome  instructions,  and  seeking  to 
put  him  to  death.  And  this  is  not  all  which  we  have 
to  offer,  for  applying  this  Scripture  to  the  judgment 
which  was  then  at  hand.  The  form  of  the  verb  used 
here  to  express  the  coming  of  this  event,  denotes  that 
it  was  approaching^ — that  it  was,  as  it  were,  on  its 
way.  "  The  honr  is  coming ^  Our  Lord  was  in  this 
place  discoursing  on  what  then  was^  and  what  was 
then  approaching^  or  next  in  order.  The  same  phrase 
occurs  in  the  25  th  verse.  ^'  The  hour  is  comings  and 
noiD  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son 
of  God."  This  work  of  quickening  them  who  were 
dead  in  sin,  which  was  yet  coming,  had  also  begun 
to  be. 

The  phrase  erchetai  hora,  which  in  this  text  is  ren- 
dered the  hour  is  coming,  occurs  in  six  other  instances 
in  John's  gospel,  in  all  of  which  it  applies  to  events 
which  were  then  near  approaching.  (See  chap.  iv. 
verses  21  and  23;  and  chap.  xvi.  verses  2d,  4th,  25th, 
and  32d.)  These  passages  relate  to  the  more  perfect 
establishment  of  spiritual  gospel  worship,  the  persecu- 
tions to  be  endured  by  the  Christian  disciples,  their 
dispersion  at  the  time  of  his  crucifixion,  and  his  after- 
wards showing  them  more  plainly  of  the  gracious 
counsels  of  God.  These  were  all  approaching  events, 
and  accordingly  Jesus  said  of  them,  as  of  the  event 
spoken  of  in  the  text,  erchetai  hora,  the  hour  is 
coming.  Thus  in  every  other  case  where  John's 
gospel  has  the  phrase  which  in  this  place  is  rendered. 


RESTJRRECTION  TO   CONDEMNATION.  333 

the  hotir  is  comijig^  it  is  used  in  reference  to  an  event 
which  is  approaching.  And  the  Scriptures  generally, 
perhaps  I  may  say  invariably,  when  they  say  of  any- 
thing that  it  is  comings  or  it  cometh^  mean  that  it  ap- 
proacheth^  or  that  it  is  next  in  order  of  time  to  some- 
thing else  spoken  of  Therefore  the  circumstance, 
that  of  the  time  of  the  judgment  which  is  the  subject 
of  the  text,  it  was  said,  the  hour  is  comings  corrobo- 
rates the  view  which  is  so  evident  from  other  consid- 
erations, that  it  was  the  then  approaching  judgment 
of  that  generation. 

In  confirmation  of  the  opinion  that  the  text  applies 
to  the  judgment  which  was  to  come  in  that  generation, 
an  opinion  which  we  have  drawn  from  a  consideration 
of  the  occasion  on  which  it  was  spoken,  and  a  compar- 
ison of  this  with  discourses  of  Christ  recorded  by 
other  Evangelists,  and  from  the  fact  that  of  the  time 
of  its  fulfilment  it  was  said  to  be  then  '-^  coming^''  I 
I  will  refer  you  to  a  parallel  passage  in  the  12th  of 
Daniel.  ''And  at  that  time  shall  Michael  stand  up, 
the  great  Prince  which  standeth  for  the  children  of  thy 
people :  and  there  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble,  such  as 
never  was  since  there  was  a  nation,  even  to  that  same 
time ;  and  at  that  time  thy  people  shall  be  delivered, 
every  one  that  shall  be  found  written  in  the  book. 
And  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth 
shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to 
shame  and  everlasting  contempt."  This  Scripture, 
learned  divines  of  all  denominations  have  considered, 
and  that  with  the  greatest  propriety,  to  be  parallel 
with  that  in  John.  The  awakening  from  the  dust  of  the 
earthy  some  to  everlasting  life^  and  some  to  shame  ayid 
everlasting  contempt^  in  Daniel ;  and  the  coming  forth 
from  the  graves ;  they  that  have  done  good  unto  the 


334  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

7'esnrrectwn  of  life ^  &c.,  in  John, — are  evidently  spok. 
of  as  the  same  event.     And  since  Jesus  so  clearly 
informs  us   in  what  event  this  prophecy  of    Daniel 
was   to   have    its   fulfilment,  this^  parallel   with   the 
record  of  John,  explains  that. 

Jesus,  in  discoursing  to  his  disciples  on  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  and  events  connected  therewith, 
referred  to  this  very  chapter  in  Daniel,  saying, 
''When  ye  therefore  shall  see  the  abomination  of  des- 
olation spoken  of  by  Daniel  the  prophet, — then  let 
them  which  be  in  Judea  flee  into  the  mountains ; — for 
then  shall  be  great  tribulation,  such  as  was  not  since 
the  beginning  of  the  Avorld  to  this  time,  no,  nor  ever 
shall  be."  Here  Jesus  speaks  of  the  same  time  of 
trouble  of  which  Daniel  spoke ;  and  he  then  fixes  the 
time  to  that  generation. 

In  the  generation  in  which  Christ  was  on  earth, 
therefore,  was  that  fulfilled  which  Daniel  spoke; 
''And  there  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble,  such  as  never 
was  since  there  was  a  nation  even  to  that  same  time. 
And  many  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall 
awake,  some  to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame 
and  everlasting  contempt."  And  I  cannot  see  the 
least  shadow  of  a  reason  to  doubt  that  Jesus  in  the 
text  spoke  of  the  same  event.  We  should  very  natu- 
rally have  supposed,  that  Avhen  Jesus  was  addressing 
the  people  to  whom  the  prophets  spoke,  and  on  a  par- 
ticular judgment  which  they  had  predicted,  he  would 
sometimes  use  the  language  which  they  had  used  on 
the  same  subject. 

It  is  plain  that  events  did  take  place  in  the  time  of 
that  judgment,  which,  considering  the  ancient  mode 
of  speaking  and  writing,  justified  the  strong  language 
of  the  text,  as  spoken  with  reference  to  it.     When 


RESURRECTION    TO   CONDEMNATION.  335 

Jesus  was  here,  he  used  to  address  the  Jews  as  the 
most  wicked   people   then   on  earth.     Yet  he  found 
them  hiding  under  false  pretensions  of  piety ;  and  cal- 
culating to  escape  the  Divine  threatenings,  to  which 
their  works   so   clearly  proved   them  to   he  subject. 
And,  according  to  Joseph  us,  though  after  this  time, 
succeeding  and  increasing  calamities  came  upon  them, 
yet  they  slept  on  still.     They  appeared  to  be  blind  to 
the  enormity  of  their  sins,  and  deaf  to  all  the  threat- 
enings of  God,— until  they  began  to  experience  this 
'^  great  tribulation,  such  as  was  not  since  the  begin- 
ning  of  the  world,  no,  not   ever   shall   be."     When 
these  terrible  calamities  began  to  break  forth  upon 
them,  then  they  were  waked  from  the  dust ;  they  were 
called  forth  from  the  graves,  or  the  secret  places  in 
which  they  had  been  sleeping,— they  were  roused  from 
their  dormancy.     They  came  forth  to  a  sense  of  their 
own  shame,  to  the  resurrection  of  condemnation^ — and 
suffered  that  dreadful  punishment,  of  which  Moses  and 
the  prophets,  and  the  Son  of  God,  had  so  repeatedly 
forewarned  them. 

And  this  judgment  did  not  affect  the  wicked  alone; 
it  affected  the  faithful  disciples  of  Jesus,  too.  It  called 
them  forth  into  a  more  full  enjoyment  of  life  and  hap- 

1  The  word  hrisis,  rendered  damnation  in  the  text,  is  the  same  word  that 
is  rendered  judgment  in  verse  27th,  and  condemnation  in  verse  24th.  It 
signifies  judgment,  condemnation,  and  punishment.  See  Parkhurst  on 
this  word.  In  this  case  it  means  the  same  punishment  that  is,  in  jMatt. 
xxiii.  33,  called  "  the  damnation  of  hell,"  rijg  xniosvjg  reg  yEevrj;c,  the  pun- 
ishment of  gehenna,  or  of  the  Valley  of  Hinnom.  The  prophets  had  tes- 
tified of  a  punishment  to  come  on  the  Jews,  which  should  make  their 
city  like  Tophet  in  the  Valley  of  Himiom  ;  and  that  Jesus  meant  the  same 
temporal  calamity  by  the  punishment  of  gehenna  is  evident,  in  that  he 
certified  in  the  succeeding  verses  that  all  these  things,  these  calamities, 
should  come  on  that  generation  of  the  Jews,  and  should  make  their  house 
unto  them  desolate. 


336  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

piness.  They  had  been  pressed  down  under  grievous 
persecutions,  and  the  calamities  of  war  prevailed  in 
all  the  land.  And  when  everything  in  the  natural 
world  appeared  blackness  and  darkness,  no  doubt  con- 
siderable darkness  brooded  over  their  7ni?ids.  We 
know  that  some  things  which  Christ  said  to  his  dis- 
ciples when  he  was  with  them,  they  did  not  under- 
stand until  after  they  were  fulfilled.  For  instance, 
though  he  had  repeatedly  told  them  that  he  should  be 
put  to  death,  and  should  rise  again  on  the  third  day, 
yet  when  he  was  crucified  they  were  disconsolate,  and 
understood  not  what  he  had  told  them,  until  "  The 
Loi^d  Imd  risen  indeed.''^  So,  likewise,  notwithstand- 
ing Jesus  had  given  his  disciples  frequent  instructions 
concerning  this  most  dreadful  judgment,  and  had 
engaged  that  they  should  meet  deliverance,  even  as 
Daniel  said,  "Then  shall  thy  people  be  delivered,  every 
one  that  shall  be  found  written  in  the  book,"  yet  we 
may  reasonably  conclude  that  when  the  terrible  calam- 
ities of  war,  pestilence,  and  famine,  were  added  to  the 
grievous  persecutions  they  were  experiencing  from  the 
hands  of  the  Jews,  they  were,  for  a  time,  in  great 
darkness  and  trouble.  But  they  were  all  delivered 
from  the  calamities  of  this  war ;  and  likewise  from  the 
persecutions  of  the  Jews.  This  explained  and  fulfilled 
the  promises  of  Jesus  relating  to  their  salvation  in  this 
judgment; — and  at  the  same  time  that  it  saved  them 
from  the  principal  of  their  temporal  distresses,  it  of 
course  cleared  away  the  clouds  which  these  evils  had 
spread  over  their  minds,  confirmed  their  faith  and  con- 
fidence in  him,  raised  them  into  more  light,  and  renewed 
and  advanced  their  enjoyment  of  gospel  life  and  peace. 
Now  this  important  change  in  the  condition  of  the 
disciples,  so  wonderfully  wrought,   was  as  properly 


RESURRECTION   TO   CONDEMNATION.  337 

called  their  coming  forth  from  the  graves^  through  the 
authority  of  Christ,  to  the  resurrection  of  life,  as  the 
redemption  of  the  Jews  from  Babylonish  captivity  into 
their  own  land,  was  called  of  the  Lord,  by  Ezekiel,  the 
bringing  of  them,  up  from  their  graves,  to  inherit  the 
land  of  Israel  And  equally  striking  is  the  declara- 
tion, They  that  have  done  evil  shall  come  forth  to  tht 
resurrection  of  condemnation,  to  express  this  effectual 
arousing  of  the  wicked  and  unbelieving  from  their 
graves  of  secrecy  and  refuge  of  lies,  to  misery, 
"shame  and  contempt." "* 

m  Since  I  published  the  first  edition  of  a  sermon  on  this  passage,  I  have 
had  the  privilege  of  reading  the  works  of  Newcomb  Cappe,  an  English 
divine,  in  which  I  find  the  same  explanation  given  this  Scripture  that  I 
have  here  given  it.  As  he  was  a  believer  in  the  doctrine  of  future  punish- 
ment, his  prejudices  would  have  inclined  him  to  apply  this  Scripture  to  that 
subject,  were  it  not  that  he  felt  obliged,  by  the  clear  evidence  in  the  case,  to 
apply  it  otherwise.  And  I  think  it  must  have  been  the  clear  evidence  in 
the  case,  that  led  two  persons,  of  difierent  sentiment  on  the  subject  of  future 
punishment,  residing  in  distant  parts  of  the  world,  and  having  no  knowledge 
of  each  other's  writings,  to  give  this  Scripture  so  precisely  the  same  sense, 
and  in  a  manner  so  similar.  The  following  is  his  paraphrase  on  the  two 
verses  embraced  in  the  passage  before  us,  with  the  three  preceding  verses, 
beginning  with  the  25th :— "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  the  period  is  approaching, 
and  is  not  far  off",  when,  after  my  exaltation,  they  who  are  now  insensible  and 
inattentive  to  the  teachings,  and  warnings  and  ministry  of  the  Son  of  man, 
of  me,  in  my  present  humble  circumstances,  will  hear  my  voice,  when,  being 
constituted  the  Son  of  God,  I  shall  speak  from  heaven,  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
sent  to  my  apostles  ;  and  they  that  hear  shall  live.  (26.)  For  as  the  Father 
liath  life  in  himself,  and  hath  the  power  of  giving  life  unto  the  dead,  so 
hath  he  given  to  the  Son  the  like  power :  he  will  enable  him,  by  means  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  accompanying  the  witnesses  of  his  resurrection,  to  quicken, 
to  give  apprehension,  sensibility,  and  discernment,  to  many  who  seem  now 
to  have  them  not,  who  are  figuratively  and  spiritually  dead :  he  will  enable 
him  to  endue  the  converts  to  his  gospel  with  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  and  thus 
raise  them  from  the  dead,  in  imparting  to  them  new  principles  of  life  ;  and 
besides  this,  he  will  enable  them  to  preserve  their  natural  lives  in  the  ap- 
proaching desolations  of  their  country;  thus  will  the  Father  honor  him 
whom  ye  calumniate  and  reject.  (27.)  Nevertheless,  it  is  not  for  such  gra- 
cious purposes  alone,  that  I  am  ordained  unto  a  kingdom  ;  though  I  am  a 
•Son  o/vjian,  low  as  I  now  am,  and  undistinguished  from  among  the  com- 
mon of  mankind,  I  am  appointed  also  to  judge,  and  to  execute  judgment 

29 


338  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

But  my  readers  may  wish  to  be  informed  of  the 
j)roof  that  the  prophetic  declaration  of  the  text,  with 
such  interpretation  as  has  now  been  given  it,  was  ever 
fulfilled  by  corresponding /acA  Were  the  disciples  of 
Jesus  preserved  during  those  tribulations  which  de- 
stroyed their  oppressors?  And  were  they  preserved 
unto  such  circumstances  as  constituted  a  resurrection 
or  deliverance  from  their  preceding  state  of  trouble  and 
persecution  ? — The  history  of  the  Christian  church  fur- 
nishes us  with  a  satisfactory  answer  to  this  inquiry. 

The  believing  or  Clwistian  Jews,  icere  preserved 
through  the  destruction  which  came  on  their  country. 
"It  was  under  the  government  of  St.  Simon,"  says 
Tillemont,  "that  the  (Christian)  Jews  left  Jerusalem 
by  God's  order,  before  that  city  was  besieged  in  the 
year  70,  and  withdrew  beyond  Jordan  into  the  city  of 
Pella.""     And   their   lives  were   not  preserved   unto 

upon  this  untoward  generation.  (28,  29.)  Let  not  what  I  say  amaze  you  ; 
suffer  not  yourselves  to  be  lost  in  groundless  hesitating  and  unprofitable 
wonder :  believe  me,  for  it  is  true,  not  only  that  the  hour  is  very  near  at 
hand,  when  some  who  are  now  perfectly  inattentive,  and  insensible  to 
my  call,  shall  hear  the  voice  in  which  I  will  address  them,  from  my  ap- 
proaching state  of  exaltation,  and  being  obedient  thereto,  shall  live  ;  but 
it  is  alike  true  that  though  farther  off,  yet  the  time  is  at  no  great  distance, 
within  the  compass  of  this  present  generation,  when  all  that  now  are 
in  the  graves,  who  at  present  sit  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death,  the 
whole  body  of  the  Jewish  people,  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God, 
summoning  them  to  judgment ;  and  being  then  at  length  all  awakened  to 
perceive  who  and  what  he  is,  shall  come  forth  out  of  their  present  state  of 
darkness  and  ignorance,  to  a  new  state  of  mind,  to  a  resurrection,  which  to 
those  who  have  been  obedient  to  the  calls  of  Providence,  shall  issue  in  the 
preservation  of  their  lives,  amidst  the  calamities  which  shall  overwhelm 
their  country  ;  to  those  who  have  refused  to  hearken  to  them,  shall  issue  in 
tlicir  condemnation,  to  fall  among  them  that  fall,  and  to  take  their  share  in 
all  the  bitterness  of  the  calamities  that  are  hastening  to  involve  this  coun- 
try." Cappe's  Works,  vol.  i.,  pp.  322 — 325.  Such  is  the  agreement  of  Cappe's 
opinion  with  the  view  which  we  have  offered  on  this  Scripture. 

n  Till.  Eccl.  Mem.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  145, — referring  to  Eusebius,  lib.  de  Demon- 
stratione  Evangelica  ;  Paris,  1627,  3  c.  5,  p.  124. 


RESURRECTION    TO   CONDEMNATION.  339 

continued  persecutions  and  tribulations,  but  unto  the 
promised  season  of  rest  and  peace.  For  Tillemont 
adds,  that,  "  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the 
Christians  returned  thither,  and  appeared  with  reputa- 
tion by  reason  of  a  great  number  of  prodigies  and 
miracles,  so  that  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  flourished 
again  there,  being  composed  of  a  great  number  of 
Jews,  who  had  embraced  the  faith,  and  thus  continued 
luitil  the  city  was  destroyed  again  in  the  last  years  of 
Adrian."  The  last  years  of  Adrian  were  about  A.  D. 
139,  which  makes  the  time  when  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tians had  the  peaceful  occupancy  of  Judea  and  Jeru- 
salem, after  the  dispersion  of  their  nation,  to  be  more 
than  60  years. 

Gibbon  says,  that  "  The  Jewish  Christians,  who 
united  the  law  of  Moses  with  the  Christian  religion, 
remained  in  solitude  in  Pella  about  60  years,  enjoying 
tlie  comfort  of  visiting  the  Holy  City^  which  they  loved 
and  revered.  They  were  vastly  outnumbered  by  the 
Christians  from  Gentile  nations,  who  rejected  the 
Mosaic  ceremonies.  But  under  the  reign  of  Hadrian 
the  desperate  fanaticism  of  the  Jews  filled  up  the  mea- 
sure of  their  calamities,  and  the  Romans  exercised  the 
rights  of  victory  with  unusual  rigor.  A  new  city  was 
founded  on  Mount  Sion,  privileged  as  a  colony ;  and 
the  Jewish  Christians,  or  Nazarenes^  by  giving  up  their 
Jewish  habits,  enjoyed  a  free  admission  into  the  colony 
of  Hadrian."  Of  course  there  was  then  no  opposition 
to  Christians  only  as  they  were  confounded  with 
Jews.  In  reference  to  this  historical  fact,  Jortin,  in 
his  remarks  on  Ecclesiastical  History,  on  the  words 
of  Christ,  "Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they  shall  in- 
herit the  earth,"  says,  "  This  was  literally  fulfilled, 

0  Gibbon's  Rome,  vol,  ii.,  chap.  15,  p.  C6. 


340  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

when  the  beheving  Jews  returned  to  their  own  coun- 
try, after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.''^ 

The  historical  researches  of  Milner  have  led  hirn  to 
the  statement  of  the  same  fact.  He  says  that,  "the 
congregation  of  Christian  Jcavs  were  commanded,  by 
an  oracle,  revealed  to  the  best  approved  among  them, 
that  before  the  wars  began,  they  should  depart  from 
the  city,  and  inhabit  a  village  beyond  Jordan,  called 
Pella.  Thither  they  retired,  and  were  saved  from  the 
destruction,  which  soon  after  overwhelmed  their  coun- 
trymen. And  in  so  retiring  they  at  once  observed  the 
precept,  and  fulfilled  the  well  known  prophecy  of  their 
Saviour.  The  death  of  Nero,  and  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  would  naturally  occasion  some  respite  to 
them  from  their  sufferings ;  and  we  hear  no  more  of 
their  persecuted  state  until  the  reign  of  Domitian,  the 
last  of  the  Flavian  family,  who  succeeded  to  the  em- 
pire in  the  year  81.  He  does  not  appear  to  have 
raged  against  the  Christians,  till  the  latter  end  of  his 


reiffu. 


55  q 


But  concerning  the  Christian  church  in  general, 
there  is  no  account  of  any  persecution  against  it,  after 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  until  that  of  Domitian, 
A.  D.  95.  Fleury,  who  seems  to  be  particular  to  men- 
tion all  the  trovhles  of  the  church,  even  those  which 
tradition  reported,  makes  mention  of  none  before  this; 
and  this  he  represents  as  "  short,  and  not  violent."' 
Milner  says,  that  "  Nerva,  Domitiaii's  successor,  pub- 
lished a  pardon  for  those  who  were  condemned  for 
impiety,  recalled  those  who  Vv^ere  banished,  and  for- 
bade the  accusing  of  any  man  on  account  of  impiety 
or  Judaism.     Others,  who  were  under  accusation,  or 

P  Jort.  Rem.  vol.  i,  p.  72.  fl  Miln.  Ch.  Hist.,  vol.  i.  p.  104. 

•^Fleu.  Eccl.  Hist.,  vol.  i.,  b.  2,  pp.  151—2—3. 


RESURRECTION    TO   CONDEMNATION.  341 

under  sentence  of  condemnation,  now  escaped  by  the 
lenity  of  Nerva.  This  brings  us  to  the  close  of  the 
century,  in  which  we  behold  the  Christians,  for  the 
present,  in  a  state  of  external  peace." 

Thus  it  is  abundantly  shown  in  history,  that  the 
prophecy  of  our  Lordj  with  the  application  which  all 
the  circumstances  we  have  considered  require  us  to 
make  of  it,  has  been  wonderfully  fulfilled.  During 
the  rage  of  those  calamities  which  overthrew  the  Jew- 
ish nation,  the  Christians  were  preserved.  And  after 
that  event,  the  Jews  having  lost  the  power,  and  per- 
haps in  a  measure  their  disposition  to  molest  them,  the 
Christians  enjoyed  a  considerable  season  of  undis- 
turbed rest  from  persecution.  They  enjoyed  a  season 
of  at  least  twenty-jive  years  of  quietude,  without  mo- 
lestation, from  the  year  70,  when  the  Jews'  overthrow 
was  consummated,  to  the  year  95,  the  commencement 
of  Domitian's  persecution.  And  with  the  exception 
of  this  light  persecution  of  about  one  year's  continu- 
ance, the  time  of  rest  to  the  Christian  church  extended 
to  between  thirty  and  forty  years ^  which  probably  ran 
out  the  natural  lives  of  all  who  became  followers  of 
Christ  when  he  ministered  on  earth,  and  of  most  of 
those  who  espoused  his  cause  in  season  to  share  with 
his  disciples  in  the  persecutions  which  preceded  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem. 

When  the  Christians  had  witnessed  what  their  Mas- 
ter had  before  told  them  concerning  their  own  suffer- 
ings in  his  cause,  and  then  what  he  had  said  of  that 
judgment  which  should  arouse  their  persecutors  from 
their  graves  of  self-righteous  security,  into  shame, 
condemnation,  and  destruction, — and  what  he  had 
said  also  concerning  their  own  preservation,  and  suc- 
ceeding season  of  peace ;  when  they  had  witnessed  all 
29* 


342  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

these  things,  they  had  an  entrance  into  life  of  a  double 
nature.  They  not  only  received  a  resurrection,  a  de- 
hverance,  from  these  persecutions  which  had  threat- 
ened them  with  death,  into  the  enjoyment  of  their 
natural  lives  in  external  peace  and  safety,'  but  these 
events  must  so  have  disciplined  their  minds,  and  con- 
firmed and  built  up  their  faith,  as  to  raise  them  also 
into  a  very  enlarged  enjoyment  of  the  gospel  religion, 
which  is  called  everlasting  life/  For  though  the  be- 
lievers had  everlasting  life,  as  in  John  iii.  36,  yet  at  this 
time  they  were  raised  into  a  new  and  enlarged  enjoy- 
ment of  it.  What  a  pleasing  and  wonderful  fulfilment 
of  our  Saviour's  prophetic  declarations,  one  of  which  is 
contained  in  this  text !  The  reader  may  have  the 
satisfaction  of  reflecting,  that  he  need  not  wrest  these 
prophetic  Scriptures  from  their  most  evident  meaning, 
by  any  private  interpretation,  to  avoid  opposing  them 
to  fact. 

Kind  reader,  a  careful  attention  to  the  Scriptures, 
and  to  corresponding  historical  facts,  has  rendered  the 
subject  of  our  present  inquiries  plain  and  clear.  The 
truth  on  this  subject  we  have  found  to  be  worth  our 
seeking.  It  enables  us,  in  the  present  case,  to  under- 
stand the  complete  fulfilment  of  the  Scripture  before 
us,  and  to  improve  it  as  an  ''example"  and  "admoni- 
tion," to  ourselves,  without  cutting  short  the  v/ork  of 
the  Saviour,  or  discouraging  the  prayers  of  saints.  It 
enables  us  to  believe  what  God  hath  threatened,  and 
to  believe  too  what  God  hath  promised;  to  look 
through  the  dimness  of  those  tears,  which  sin,  and 
pain,  and  death,  have  drawn  from  our  eyes, — and  be- 
hold Jesus  triumphant,  death  swallowed  up  in  victory, 

8 Matt.  xvi.  25,  26  ;  xxiv.  31.    Luke  xxi.  28. 
iMatt.  xiii,  43  ;  xxv.  29,  46. 


THE    RESURRECTION.  343 

sin  banished  the  universe  of  God,  and  tears  wiped 
away  from  off  all  faces  ! 

St.  Paul  treats  with  brevity  on  the  subject  of  the 
resurrection,  in  his  first  letter  to  the  Thessalonians, 
(iv.  13 — 18.)  Then  the  succeeding  chapter  is  com- 
menced with  these  words; — "But  of  the  times  and 
seasons,  brethren,  ye  have  no  need  that  I  write  unto 
you.  For  yourselves  know  perfectly,  that  the  day  of 
the  Lord  so  cometh  as  a  thief  in  the  night.  For  when 
they  shall  say.  Peace  and  safety,  then  sudden  destruc- 
tion cometh  upon  them." 

The  immediate  succession  of  this  language  to  the 
above-mentioned  description  of  the  resurrection,  has 
led  different  people  to  different  erroneous  applications 
of  the  said  description.  Some  have  used  it  as  proof 
that  there  is  to  be  a  judgment  connected  with  the 
resurrection,  which  shall  execute  sudden  and  final 
destruction  on  a  portion  of  our  race.  Others,  finding 
the  idea  of  wrath  and  destruction  never  connected 
with  the  immortal  resurrection,  have  concluded  that 
the  apostle  did  not  treat  upon  that  subject  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter.  They  have  applied  what  is  there 
said  of  the  raising  up  of  them  that  sleep,  to  the  same 
event  as  is  signified  in  the  fifth  of  John,  by  the  resur- 
rection to  life,  and  to  damnation.  But  both  these  ap- 
plications of  the  subject  I  take  to  be  wrong. 

In  the  first  place,  the,  conclusion  of  chapter  fourth, 
refers  evidently  to  the  literal  resurrection.  The  apostle 
says,  "  But  I  would  not  have  you  to  be  ignorant, 
brethren,  concerning  them  which  are  asleep,  that  ye 
sorrow  not,  even  as  others,  which  have  no  hope.  For 
if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died,  and  rose  again,  even  so 
them  also  which  sleep,  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with, 
him,"  (or,  as  Wakefield  and  others  render  it,  "even  so 


344  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

them  which  sleep  will  God  through  Jesus  bring  with 
him.")  "  For  this  we  say  unto  you  by  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  that  we  which  are  alive  and  remain  unto  the 
coming  of  the  Lord,  shall  not  prevent  {^rj  (pdaaM/usv^ 
shall  not  go  before)  them  which  are  asleep.  For  the 
Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout, 
with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  the  trump  of 
God  ;  and  the  dead,  in  Christ  shall  rise  first :  (that  is, 
the  dead  shall  rise  in  Christ  first :)  then  we  which  are 
alive  and  remain  shall  be  caught  up  together  with 
them  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air ;  and 
so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord.  Wherefore,  com- 
fort one  another  with  these  words." 

That  St.  Paul  treats  the  subject  of  the  literal  resur- 
rection of  the  dead  in  the  15th  of  1  Corinthians,  none 
will  dispute.  And  I  will  now  show  that  the  passage 
just  quoted  relates  to  the  same  subject. 

First; — In  addressing  the  Corinthians,  the  apostle 
makes  the  resurrection  of  Christ  the  ground  of  the 
Christian  hope  of  immortality.  ''If  Christ  is  not 
raised,  then  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead.  But 
now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead,  and  become  the 
first-fruits  of  them  that  slept."  So  here  to  the  Thes- 
salonians  he  says,  "  For  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died 
and  rose  again,  even  so  them  also  which  sleep  will 
God  through  Jesus  bring  with  him." 

Second ; — To  the  Corinthiaps  he  represents  that  all 
who  sleep  or  may  sleep  in  death,  shall  be  raised,  or 
made  alive  "in  Christ."  So  here,  "Even  so  them 
which  sleep  will  God  in  or  through  Jesus  bring  Avilh 
him."  And  again,  at  verse  16th,  "  The  dead  shall  rise 
in  Christ  first.''''  It  has  commonly  been  taken  to 
mean  that  there  is  a  certain  class  of  the  deceased,  in- 
cluding such  as  had  been  righteous  on  earth,  who  are 


THE    RESURRECTION.  345 

called  the  dead  in  Christy  and  who  will  rise  before  the 
rest  of  the  dead.  But  on  close  observation,  it  will  be 
seen  that  there  is  but  one  class  of  the  dead  spoken  of, 
and  that  is  the  deceased  of  mankind  as  a  species.  "I 
would  not  have  you  to  be  ignorant,  brethren,  concern- 
ing them  which  are  asleep," — i.  e.  the  human  dead. 
Again,  "  Even  so  them  also  which  sleep^''''  i.  e.  the  dead 
in  general,  spoken  of  above,  "in  Jesus  will  God  bring 
with  him."  And  yet  again,  "  The  dead^  in  Christ  shall 
rise  first."  And  what  next?  Is  there  another  class 
of  the  dead  to  be  raised  afterwards  1  Nothing  is  said 
of  any  such  fact.  The  next  thing  mentioned  is, 
"  Then  we  which  are  alive  and  remain,  shall  be 
caught  up  together  with  them  in  the  clouds."  So, 
then,  "them  which  sleep,"  in  verses  13,  14,  and  "the 
dead,"  in  verse  16,  are  all  who  are  to  be  subjects  of 
the  resurrection  of  which  the  apostle  here  testifies, 
except  those  who  shall  be  alive  on  the  earth  at  the 
completion  of  the  resurrection  work.  And  by  placing 
the  comma  after  the  word  dead,  in  verse  16,  "the 
dead,  in  Christ  shall  rise  first,"  or  "the  dead  shall 
rise  in  Christ  first,"  the  sentiment  is  made  to  be  in 
perfect  agreement  with  that  to  the  Corinthians,  "  Even 
so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive." 

Third ; — The  apostle  to  the  Corinthians  represents 
that  all  the  dead  shall  be  raised,  before  the  last  of  the 
living  shall  be  made  immortal.  "For  the  trumpet 
shall  sound,  and  the  dead  shall  be  raised  incorrup- 
tible, and  (then)  we  shall  be  changed."  So  here  to  the 
Thessalonians,  "  For  we  which  are  alive  and  remain 
imto  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  shall  not  go  before  thein 
which  are  asleep.  For  the  dead  shall  rise  in  Christ 
first,  (before  the  living  are  changed,)  then  we  which 


346  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

are  alive  and  remain  shall  be  caught  up  together  with 
them  in  the  clouds." 

Thus  is  this  apostle's  description  of  the  resurrection, 
which  he  gives  to  the  Thessalonians,  in  exact  agree- 
ment, in  all  prominent  points,  with  that  given  to  the 
Corinthians.  And  I  can  find  no  way  by  which  I  can 
lawfully  apply  them  to  different  subjects. 

So  likewise  is  the  character  of  the  resurrection  de- 
scribed to  the  Thessalonians,  indicated  as  being  the 
same  as  that  ascribed  to  it  in  the  letter  to  the  Corin- 
thians. It  is  represented  as  being  altogether  a  subject 
of  grateful  hope.  "I  would  not  have  you  to  be  igno- 
rant, brethren,  concerning  them  which  are  asleep,  that 
ye  sorrow  not,  even  as  others,  which  have  no  hope." 
The  hope  here  spoken  of  is  not  a  hope  for  one's  self 
in  particular.  When  the  members  of  certain  sects 
speak  of  their  having  "obtained  a  hope,"  they  mean 
by  it  a  hope  for  themselves,  to  which  they  think  that 
something  they  have  done  or  felt,  entitles  them.  But 
the  Christian's  hope  spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures,  is  not 
a  mere  selfish  hope.  It  is  a  hope  for  man.  And  in 
this  case,  the  hope  spoken  of  is  for  deceased  friends. 
The  beathen  sorrowed  for  the  dead  without  hope,  and 
employed  extravagant  expressions  of  anguish,  and 
acts  of  self-torture.  But  the  apostle  would  have  his 
believing  brethren  to  know,  that  this  hopeless  sorrow 
for  the  dead,  was  from  ignorance  of  their  allotment. 
He  would  have  them  to  understand  the  gospel  doc- 
trine of  immortality,  that  they  might  be  comforted 
concerning  the  deceased. 

Let  it  be  considered  here,  that  these  Thessalonian 
Christians  had  the  dearest  friends  and  relations  of 
life,  who  were  in  the  heathen  state  of  unbelief,  and 
were,  one  after  another,  dying  in  that  state.     Did  the 


THE    RESURRECTION.  347 

gospel  give  them  no  hope  for  such  7  Perhaps  when 
this  letter  was  received  from  the  inspired  apostle,  and 
the  brethren  were  called  together  to  hear  it  read,  some 
pious  believing  daughter  had  just  closed  the  eyfes  of  a 
fond  and  doating  mother,  who  died  without  the  hght 
of  Christ.  She  hears  these  words  of  kindness  and 
love,  ''I  would  not  have  you  to  be  ignorant,  brethren, 
concerning  them  which  are  asleep ;  that  ye  sorrow  not^ 
even  as  others,  which  have  no  hope."  Could  she 
draw  consolation  from  these  words  of  truth  ?  Could 
she  have  hope  for  that  dear  departed  mother?  Ac- 
cording to  modern  creeds,  she  could  have  no  hope 
from  her  gospel  faith,  to  soothe  her  sorrows  for  her 
dearest  friend  asleep.  But  the  ministry  of  the  primi- 
tive gospel  bade  her  sorrow  not,  but  rejoice  in  hope. 
Did  the  Christian  apostle  mean  to  have  his  brethren 
harden,  their  hearts  to  cold  indifference  for  all  their 
friends  who  were  not  believers  with  them?  Such 
were  a  majority  of  their  earthly  friends.  Would  their 
Christian  teacher  have  them  comforted  ivithoiit  hope 
for  them  ?  Were  the  sorrows,  which  he  feared  they 
would  indulge,  alone  for  deceased  Christians,  in  utter 
forgetfulness  and  indifference  for  the  great  mass  of 
their  friends  who  had  fallen  asleep  ?  I  should  tremble, 
in  the  conscious  guilt  of  blasphemy,  to  harbor  the 
thought  for  a  moment.  The  Christian  spirit  is  love 
and  affection  for  all.  And  with  regard  to  them  who 
are  asleep^  without  any  limitation  or  reserve,  the 
apostle  would  have  us  not  to  be  so  ignorant  of  their 
destiny  as  to  sorrow  on  their  account,  but  to  cherish 
for  them  a  consoling  hope.  For  since  Christ  died, 
and  rose  again,  so  them  also  which  sleep,  will  God 
through  Jesus  bring  again  from  the  dead.  And  every- 
where  has   the   apostle  had  it  understood,   that  the 


348  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

resurrection  from  the  dead  is  an  introduction  into  a 
higher  and  better  state. 

If  any  still  contend  that  the  glorious  and  desirable 
resurrection,  described  in  the  passage  we  have  now 
been  considering,  and  also  in  that  to  the  Corinthians, 
includes  but  a  part  of  the  human  dead,  I  will  remark 
that  the  conclusion  of  the  latter  argument  referred  to, 
brings  to  a  settlement  this  question,  and  that  forever. 
At  the  event  of  the  resurrection  which  he  there  dis- 
cusses, ''shall  be  fulfilled  the  saying  that  is  written, 
Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory."  And  then  the  tri- 
umphant shout  is  raised,  "  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting? 
O  hades,  (state  of  death,)  where  is  thy  victory?" 
Here  we  have  the  most  positive  and  decisive  assur- 
ance, that  not  a  single  victim  shall  then  remain  in 
hades,  or  under  the  power  of  death.  The  subjects, 
then,  of  that  blessed  resurrection,  to  an  immortal,  in- 
corruptible, spiritual,  heavenly,  and  glorious  state  of 
being,  are,  as  we  have  seen  before,  the  great  Adamic 
family. 

But  why  should  the  apostle  say,  (1  Thess.  v.  1 — 3) 
in  the  next  paragraph  succeeding  that  which  we  have 
quoted  on  the  resurrection,  that  the  day  of  the  Lord 
should  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night,  and  bring  sudden 
destruction  upon  them?  I  answer,  he  changes  his 
subject.  By  due  attention  to  this  portion  of  his  epistle, 
you  will  perceive  that  the  apostle  is  not  here  engaged 
in  a  continuous  argument,  but  delivers  short  para- 
graphs, on  different  subjects.  He  commences  chapter 
4th  with  exhortations  touching  the  connubial  relation, 
and  common  honesty.  At  verse  9th,  he  changes  the 
subject,  with  the  disjunctive  hiil^ — "But  as  touching 
brotherly  love,  ye  have  no  need  that  I  write  unto 
you."     Then,  after  a  few  remarks  upon  their  own 


THE    RESURRECTION.  349 

knowledge  and  practice  on  this  point,  he  changes  the 
subject  again,  with  the  same  disjunctive, — "  But  I 
would  not  have  you  to  be  ignorant,  brethren,  concern- 
ing them  which  are  asleep."  And  after  the  brief  in- 
struction he  gives  upon  the  topic  of  the  resurrection, 
he  again  changes  the  subject  in  the  same  manner  as 
before, — "But  of  the  times  and  seasons,  brethren,  ye 
have  no  need  that  I  write  unto  you.  For  yourselves 
know  perfectly  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  so  cometh  as 
a  thief  in  the  night.  For  when  they  shall  say.  Peace 
and  safety,  then  sudden  destruction  cometh  upon 
them."  Here  the  subject  is  professedly  and  distinctly 
changed  from  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  to  the 
times  and  events  which  were  to  be  observed  as  signs 
of  a  notable  day  of  the  Lord  for  which  they  should  be 
looking.  On  some,  that  day  should  bring  swift  de- 
struction. Jesus  had  described  it  thus  : — "  But  as  the 
days  of  Noe  were,  so  shall  the  coming  of  the  Son  of 
man  be.  For  as  in  the  days  that  were  before  the 
flood,  they  were  eating  and  drinking,  marrying  and 
giving  in  marriage,  until  the  day  that  Noe  entered  the 
ark;  and  knew  not  until  the  flood  came  and  took 
them  all  away ;  so  shall  also  the  coming  of  the  Son 
of  man  be.  Then  shall  two  be  in  the  field ;  the  one 
shall  be  taken,  and  the  other  left.""  And  again, — 
"When  ye  shaVl  see  Jerusalem  compassed  with  ar- 
mies, then  know  that  the  desolation  thereof  is  nigh. 
Then  let  them  that  are  in  Judea  flee  to  the  mountains. 
— For  these  be  the  days  of  vengeance,  that  all  things 
which  are  Avritten  may  be  fulfilled.  For  there  shall  be 
great  distress  in  the  land,  and  wrath  upon  this  people. 
And  they  shall  fall  by  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and 
shall  be  carried  away  captive  into  all  nations.     And 

"  Malt.  XXIV.  37—40. 

30 


350  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

there  shall  be  signs  in  the  sun,  and  in  the  moon,  and 
in  the  stars ;  and  upon  the  earth  distress  of  nations, 
with  perplexity ; — men's  hearts  failing  them  for  fear, 
and  for  looking  after  those  things  which  are  coming  on 
the  earth ;  for  the  powers  of  heaven  shall  be  shaken. 
A?id  they  shall  see  the  >Son  of  7na?i  coming  in  a  cloudy 
with  power  and  great  glory.  And  he  spake  to  them  a 
parable  ;  Behold  the  fig-tree,  and  all  the  trees  ;  when 
they  now  shoot  forth,  ye  see  and  know  of  your  own- 
selves  that  summer  is  now  nigh  at  hand.  So  likewise 
ye,  when  ye  see  these  things  come  to  pass,  ye  know 
that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  nigh  at  hand.  Verily  I 
say  unto  you,  This  generation  shall  not  pass  away  till 
all  be  fulfilled."^ 

This  is  the  day  of  the  Lord,  the  coming  of  which 
was  nigh  when  Paul  wrote  to  the  Thessalonians,  and 
the  coming  of  which  would  be  attended  with  sudden 
destruction  upon  the  principal  enemies  of  the  gospel. 
But  no  such  descriptions  are  applied  to  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind,  that  for  the  very  reason 
that  this  notable  day  of  the  Lord  should  come  as  a 
thief  in  the  night,  in  judgment  upon  the  Jewish  nation, 
it  deeply  concerned  the  leading  enemies  of  Christ  at 
Thessalonica.  For  these  leading  opposers  Avere  Jewish 
citizens,  who  had  a  synagogue  there,  and  who,  when 
Paul  and  Silas  were  preaching  there,  stirred  up  the 
baser  sort  to  drive  them  from  the  city.  And  the  judg- 
ment of  that  day  affected  not  only  the  Jews  in  Jerusa- 
lem, but  in  all  the  provinces  abroad.  They  became 
weak  and  degraded,  and  crushed  beneath  the  feet  of 
the  Gentiles,  everwhere. 

Of  this  judgment  the  apostle  reminded  the  Thessa- 

'  Luke  xxi.  20—32. 


THE    RESURRECTION.  351 

lonians  again,  in  his  second  epistle.  He  assured  his 
Christian  brethren  there,  that  though  they  were  then 
suffering  persecutions  and  tribulations  from  the  har- 
dened unbelieving  Jews,  yet  God  would  recompense 
tribulation  to  those  troublesome  opposers,  and  give  the 
Christians  rest  from  their  persecutions,  when  the  Lord 
Jesus  should  be  revealed  from  heaven  in  the  working  of 
that  power  which  had  been  foretold,  which  should,  as 
by  the  rage  of  fire,  punish  them  with  aionion  destruction 
from  the  presence  of  the  I^ord  and  the  glory  of  his 
power.'^  The  prophet  had  described  the  political  de- 
struction of  that  people  in  similar  terms.  ''  And  I  will 
cast  you  out  of  my  sight,  as  I  have  cast  out  all  your 
brethren,  even  the  whole  seed  of  Ephraim."^  Again, 
— '^  Therefore,  behold,  I,  even  I,  will  utterly  forget 
yoUj  and  I  will  forsake  you,  and  the  city  that  I  gave 
you  and  your  fathers,  and  cast  you  out  of  my  pres- 
ence; and  I  will  bring  an  everlasting  reproach  upon 
you,  and  a  perpetual  shame,  which  shall  not  be  for- 
gotten."^ It  will  not  be  disputed  that  these  prophecies 
relate  to  the  temporal  dispersion  of  Israel.  The  de- 
struction of  their  city  and  temple, — their  deprivation 
of  the  Divine  favor  which  they  had  enjoyed  in  their 
Avorship  there,  where  dwelt  the  symbols  of  Jehovah's 
presence, — and  their  slavish  captivity  among  the  hea- 
then, were  represented  by  the  Lord's  casting  them  out 
of  his  sight,  and  out  of  his  presence.  And  so  did  the 
apostle,  when  that  calamity  was  near,  describe  it  as  a 
''  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from 
the  glory  of  his  power."  But,  I  repeat  it,  these  various 
judgments  have  no  connection  with  that  grand  and 
stupendous  event,  which  shall  swallow  up  death  in 
the  victory  of  life  immortal. 

w  8  Thess.  i.  3—10.  *  Jer.  vii.  15.  J  Jer.  xxiii.  39,  40. 


352  COMPENB    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

^^  Resur7^ection  of  the  Justy 

When  Jesus  was  invited  to  eat  bread  at  the  house 
of  a  chief  Pharisee, and  he  saw  some  who  were  bidden 
choosing  out  the  chief  rooms,  he  put  forth  a  parable 
unto  them,  saying:  "When  thou  art  bidden  of  any 
man  to  a  wedding,  sit  not  down  in  the  highest  room, 
lest  a  more  honorable  man  than  thou  be  bidden  of 
him ;  and  he  that  bade  thee  come  and  say  to  thee, 
Give  this  man  place;  and  thou  begin  with  shame  to 
take  the  lowest  room.  But  when  thou  art  bidden, 
go  and  sit  down  in  the  lowest  room,  that  when  he 
that  bade  thee  cometh,  he  may  say  unto  thee.  Friend, 
go  up  higher ;  then  shalt  thou  have  worship  of  them 
that  sit  at  meat  with  thee.  For  whosoever  exalteth 
himself  shall  be  abased,  and  he  that  abaseth  himself 
shall  be  exalted." 

"Then  said  he  also  to  him  that  bade  him,  When 
thou  makest  a  dinner  or  a  supper,  call  not  thy  friends, 
nor  thy  brethren,  nor  thy  kinsmen,  nor  thy  rich  neigh- 
bors, lest  they  also  bid  thee  again,  and  a  recompense 
be  made  thee.  But  when  thou  makest  a  feast,  call 
the  poor,  the  lame,  the  maimed,  the  blind :  and  thou 
shalt  be  blessed ;  for  they  cannot  recompense  thee  ; 
for  thou  shalt  be  recompensed  at  the  resurrection  of  the 
just:'     (Luke  xiv.  8—14.) 

Those  Christians  who  are  in  the  habit  of  referring 
men  to  the  future  state  of  existence  for  the  rewards  of 
all,  even  the  most  trivial  performances  in  life,  em- 
ploy this  text  as  a  support  to  such  doctrine.  They 
suppose  that  our  Lord  here  teaches  that,  for  even  call- 
ing the  poor  to  a  feast,  we  shall  be  rewarded  in  the 
resurrection  world ; — that  the  account  of  all  our  ac- 
tions here,  shall  be  settled  and  balanced  there.     Now 


RESURRECTION    OF    THE    JUST.  353 

in  favor  of  such  an  application  of  this  text,  I  can  see 
no  authority,  but  there  is  much  against  it. 

First; — There  is  nothing  said  hereabout  a  resur- 
rection from  the  dead  to  immortal  life.  The  text  says, 
"  Thou  shalt  be  recompensed  at  the  resurrection  (or 
rising)  of  the  just."  It  does  not  say  that  it  shall  be  at 
their  rising  from  hades ^  or  the  state  of  death,  but  sim- 
ply their  rising ;  and  what  rising  is  meant  must  be 
determined  by  the  connection,  and  the  nature  of  the 
subject. 

The  word  here  rendered  resurrection  is  anasasisj 
which  Parkhurst  defines  to  signify — 

1.  A  standing  07i  the  feet  again,  or  rising,  as 
opposed  to  falling.  It  occurs,  though  figuratively,  in 
this  view,  Luke  ii.  34:  "And  Simon  blessed  them, 
and  said  unto  Mary  his  mother,  Behold,  this  child  is 
set  for  the  fall  and  rising  again  of  many  in  Israel." 

2.  A  rising  or  resurrection  of  a  dead  body  to  life,  as 
in  Heb.  xi.  35  :  "  Women  received  their  dead  raised  to 
life  again." 

3.  A  rising  or  resurrection  of  the  body  from  the 
grave;  both  of  Christ,  and  of  men  in  general."  He 
adds*  that  this  word  occurs  twice  in  the  Greek  of  the 
Old  Testament,  "in  both  which  it  signifies  to  rise, 
to  stand  iqyP  These  two  cases  are,  Lam.  iii.  62 : 
"The  lips  of  those  that  rose  up  against  me;"  and 
Zeph.  iii.  8:  "Therefore  wait  ye  upon  me,  saith  the 
Lord,  until  the  day  that  I  rise  up  to  the  prey." 

Hence  it  is  seen  that  the  word  resurrection  in  the 
text  simply  denotes  a  rising.  The  original  word  from 
which  it  is  translated,  is  used  with  all  the  variety  of 
application  with  which  we  use  the  word  rise, — 
whether  it  is  a  rising  from  a  seat,  or  from  obscurity  to 
eminence,  or  from  inactivity  to  action,  or  from  literal 
30=^ 


354  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

death  to  life.  Consequently,  the  bare  occurrence  of 
the  word  aiiasasis^  or  7^ising,  in  this  case,  does  not 
prove  that  the  rising  meant  is  from  literal  death.  In 
conversation  on  a  politician  who  has  become  unpopu- 
lar, should  one  say,  ''He  is  down,"  and  another  re- 
join, "He  will  rise  again,"  you  would  not  understand 
him  to  speak  of  a  rising  into  immortality : — the  sub- 
ject of  the  discourse  would  determine  it  otherwise. 
And  so  does  the  subject  of  discourse  connected  with 
this  passage,  as  we  shall  shortly  see,  determine  other- 
wise concerning  the  meaning  of  the  word  resurrection 
in  it. 

Second ; — The  application  of  this  Scripture  to  the 
future  world,  is  opposed  to  the  general  teachings  of 
the  Bible  on  the  reward  of  our  virtues,  and  on  the 
tenor  of  the  resurrection  life.  It  would  indeed  be  be- 
neath the  dignity  of  the  subject,  and  beneath  the  dig- 
nity of  our  Lord,  to  refer  men  to  the  immortal  state 
for  the  recompense  even  of  making  a  dinner  for  their 
poorer  neighbors, — a  recompense  which  it  is  at  the 
same  time  said  that  their  richer  neighbors  might  them- 
selves make  them  in  the  present  world.  And  if  it  is  in 
the  future  world  that  men  are  to  be  rewarded  for  all 
their  good  deeds  done  on  earth,  that  state  will  not  be 
free  from  cause  of  boasting,  and  even  of  envy.  There 
will  be  an  infinite  variety  of  condition  in  heaven,  cor- 
responding to  the  nature  and  number  of  good  deeds 
here.  And  as  it  was  shown  under  the  head  of  "  ob- 
jections," to  chapter  ninth,  if  there  is  no  condition  in 
the  future  world  but  what  is  to  be  expected  on  the 
score  of  recompense  for  deeds  in  the  present,  those 
who  die  in  infancy,  having  done  neither  good  nor  evil, 
will  be  allotted  to  no  condition  at  all. 

But  this  habit  of  making  up  the  future  heavenly 


RESURRECTION    OF    THE    JUST. 

State,  out  of  the  matters  of  recompense  for  human 
works  below,  so  fraught  with  absurdities,  and  so  at 
variance  with  the  usual  teachings  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, has  no  sanction  from  the  words  of  Christ  before  us. 
I  have  shown  that  the  original  word  for  resurrection^  in 
this  case,  simply  means  a  rising;  and  a  rising /rom 
what,  and  to  what,  must  be  determined  by  the  nature 
of  the  subject. 

And  now,  by  consideration  of  the  subject  itself,  I 
will  proceed  to  exhibit  what  I  regard  as  the  meaning 
of  our  Lord,  by  the  rising  of  the  just.  "  Then  said  he 
unto  him  that  bade  him.  When  thou  makest  a  dinner 
or  a  supper,  call  not  thy  friends,  nor  thy  brethren, 
neither  thy  kinsmen,  nor  thy  rich  neighbors ;  lest  they 
also  bid  thee  again,  and  a  recompense  be  made  thee." 
The  recompense  here  meant  is  the  return  of  a  similar 
favor.  The  rich  were  just  as  well  able  to  make  a 
feast  for  him,  as  he  was  to  make  one  for  them ;  there- 
fore his  bidding  such  was  a  mere  act  of  courtesy,  and 
not  of  benevolence. 

''  But  when  thou  makest  a  feast,  call  the  poor, 
the  maimed,  the  lame,  the  blind;  and  thou  shalt 
be  blessed ;  for  they  cannot  recompense  thee." — Here 
is  something  to  be  expected  in  calling  the  poor  and 
needy,  which  was  not  mentioned  in  the  case  of  call- 
ing the  rich, — a  blessing.  "  And  thou  shalt  be  blessed^ 
for  they  cannot  recompense  thee."  There  was  no- 
thing said  of  a  reward  for  calling  the  rich,  other  than 
the  return  of  a  similar  expression  of  respect  from 
them.  But  there  is  a  peculiar  blessing,  a  generous 
pleasure,  a  noble  and  heartfelt  satisfaction,  in  the 
exercise  of  the  principle  of  benevolence,  in  the  doing 
of  needed  good  to  our  fellow-creatures.  Hence  Jesus 
assured  the  Pharisee,  that  by  cultivating  that  spirit  of 


356  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

benevolence  which  would  call  the  poor  unto  his  table, 
he  should  be  blessed.  And  then  a  recompense^  or  re- 
turn of  similar  favors,  of  like  temporal  good  as  he 
had  bestowed,  might  as  a  general  thing  be  expected. 
"Thou  shalt  be  recompensed  at  the  resurrection  of 
the  just."  That  is,  when  the  just,  the  virtuous  poor, 
rise^  their  circumstances  change,  and  they  come  to 
promotion, — and  when  you  shall  stand  in  need, — then 
you  will  receive  the  like  favors  from  others,  which 
you  had  imparted  to  them.  For  it  is  delivered  as  a 
general  truth  by  the  Saviour,  that."  with  what  judg- 
ment ye  judge,  ye  shall  be  judged ;  and  what  mea- 
sure ye  mete,  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again." 

But  some  may  object  to  this  view,  and  say  that  it 
must  be  incorrect,  because  it  makes  Christ  affect  to 
offer  the  people  a  better  motive  of  action  than  they 
practised  in  their  custom  of  calling  in  the  rich,  and 
yet  offers  them  the  same  motive  at  last  for  calUng  in 
the  poor,  viz.,  the  prospect  of  a  recompense.  But  if 
this  were  an  objection,  it  would  bear  with  equal  force 
against  any  view  which  can  be  offered  on  this  passage. 
For  it  cannot  be  pretended  that  Christ  did  not  offer 
the  assurance  of  a  recompense  for  calling  in  the  poor, 
as  well  as  for  calling  in  the  rich.  This  fact  is  not 
changed  by  carrying  the  promised  recompense  into 
the  future  world. 

But  this  subject  of  recompense  is  not  the  point  of 
difference  on  which  Jesus  here  laid  stress,  with  regard 
to  the  calling  of  the  rich  or  poor.  It  cannot  be  dis- 
puted that  a  recompense  is  to  be  expected  in  both 
cases.  But  the  preference  which  is  given  to  the  act 
of  calling  in  and  giving  meat  to  the  poor  and  needy, 
is,  that  it  is  a  deed  of  present  charity.  The  rich  do 
not  at  present  need  it,  but  the  poor  do ;  and  therefore 


RESURRECTION    OF    THE    JUST.  357 

by  feeding  them,  you  relieve  distress,  and  do  a  deed 
of  charity  in  which  you  shall  feel  to  be  "blessed." 
And  then,  further  to  encourage  his  host,  the  rich  Phar- 
isee, to  such  acts  of  benevolence,  in  relief  of  those 
who  were  unable  then  to  recompense  him  as  the  rich 
might  do,  he  assured  him  that  in  addition  to  the  bles- 
sedness of  doing  good,  he  should  receive  returns  of 
temporal  favor,  and  that  too  at  a  time  when  he  might 
find  himself  in  greater  need. 

It  is  a  truth,  which  was  especially  applicable  to 
those  ancient  ages,  that  the  righteous  were  at  times 
liable  to  be  pressed  down  in  regard  to  their  external 
condition  ;  but  that  it  could  not  long  at  a  time  remain 
so,  for  by  the  order  of  the  administration  of  God's 
government,  the  righteous  poor  would  soon  rise,  and 
then,  in  those  times  of  perpetual  fluctuations  in  com- 
munities, their  wicked  oppressors  would  be  brought 
down.  But  when  the  righteous  poor  were  risen, 
they  would  remember  in  liberal  return  of  favor, 
those  of  the  rich  who  had  remembered  them  in  their 
poverty. 

This  sentiment  is  contained  in  the  preaching  of 
Solomon,  (Eccl.  xi.  1,  2;)  "Cast  thy  bread  upon  the 
waters ;  for  thou  shalt  find  it  after  many  days." 
That  is,  be  prudentially  charitable,  and  you  shall 
not  be  losers,  but  shall  at  some  day  find  a  return 
of  the  good  you  do.  "Give  a  portion  to  seven,  and 
also  to  eight:  for  thou  knowest  not  what  evil  shall 
be  upon  the  earth."  That  is,  by  the  changes  and 
revolutions  that  are  going  on  in  the  earth,  you  who 
are  now  able  to  glve^  may  be  in  need  to  receive  ;  and 
they  who  now  need  to  receive  from  you,  may  be  able 
to  bestow  upon  you  their  favors. 

There  was  a  time  in  that  age  in  which  our  Lord 


358  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

was  upon  earth,  when  there  was  a  remarkable  resur- 
rection, (anasasis,)  or  rising  of  the  just;  and  at  the 
same  time  there  was  a  wonderful  fall  of  that  corrupt 
people,  the  unbelieving  Jews.  And  it  appears  from 
what  followed  upon  Christ's  pronouncing  the  Avords 
of  the  text  in  question,  that  he  here  had  some  refer- 
ence to  that  event. — ''  And  when  one  of  them  that  sat 
at  meat  with  him  heard  these  things,  he  said  unto 
him.  Blessed  is  he  that  shall  eat  bread  in  the  kingdom 
of  God."  Upon  which  Jesus  spoke  a  parable,  relating 
to  the  rejection  of  the  gospel  by  the  haughty  Jews, 
and  to  its  reception  by  the  poor  and  maimed,  the  pub- 
Hcans  and  sinners  in  the  highways  and  hedges.  And 
the  parable  further  taught,  that  at  the  coming  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  (which  should  be  in  that  genera- 
tion,) these  just  ones,  the  obedient  poor,  would  rise  to 
safety,  peace,  and  plenty,  when  the  disobedient  and 
proudly  rich  should  be  cast  down.  Thus  many  who 
were  then  alive  when  this  conversation  was  had  with 
Jesus,  did  live  to  enjoy  the  blessedness  of  eating  bread 
in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Our  Lord,  in  a  passage  referred  to  in  the  preceding 
division  of  this  chapter,  speaking  of  the  events  of  the 
judgment  of  that  age,  adds,  "And  when  these  things 
begin  to  come  to  pass,  then  took  up,  and  lift  up  your 
heads,  for  your  redemption  draweth  nigh."  That  is, 
the  redemption  of  the  disciples  from  the  grievous 
calamities  of  war  and  persecution,  then  drew  nigh. 
The  just  were  soon  to  rise  and  prosper.  He  proceeds, 
''So  likewise  ye,  when  ye  see  these  things  come  to 
pass,  know  ye  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  nigh  at 
hand."  Here  the  more  firm  establishment  and  wide 
extension  of  the  gospel  of  Christ's  kingdom,  and  the 
state  of  rest  and  peace  of  the  Christian  church,  which 


WHAT   SHALL    BE    RAISED.  359 

should  succeed  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  poUty,  is 
called  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Hence,  though  the  disciples  of  Christ  were  then  mostly 
of  the  poor,  yet  the  rich  who  should  receive  Christ's 
cause,  and  practise  the  benevolent  principles  which  he 
enjoined,  though  the  poor  could  not  recompense  them 
at  that  time  for  their  deeds  of  charity,  should  yet  find 
their  recompense  at  the  rising  of  the  just,  which  in  that 
generation  was  brought  to  pass. 

The  general  lesson  unto  which  we  are  to  improve 
this  subject  is,  that  we  shall  be  blessed  in  doing  good ; 
that  virtue,  though  it  may  at  certain  times  seem  to  be 
oppressed,  shall  rise  and  prosper.  And  that  he  who 
does  good  to  those  who  need  it,  may  himself,  in  a 
change  of  conditions,  both  need  and  receive  the  same 
favors  from  them  who  have  shared  of  his  kindness. 
The  benevolent  and  upright  in  heart,  have  the  assur- 
ance from  God,  that  "  their  place  of  defence  shall  be 
the  munition  of  rocks,  their  bread  shall  be  given  them, 
and  their  waters  shall  be  sure." 

What  shall  be  Raised  7 

It  is  thought  by  some  essential  to  the  true  faith  of  the 
esurrection,  to  believe  that  this  earthly  body  is  to  be 
raised.  Painful  descriptions  have  been  given,  of  scat- 
tered limbs  and  fragments  of  the  old  body  flying  from 
different  parts  of  the  globe,  to  meet  and  take  their 
places  in  the  formation  of  the  heavenly  man.  And 
when  it  has  been  asked  how  the  same  particles  of 
matter  which  composed  the  body  of  each  at  death, 
shall  go  to  compose  the  new  body  in  the  resurrection, 
since  the  body  Of  one,  in  cannibal  tribes,  may  have 
served  as  food  to  another,  and  thus  the  same  particles 


360  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

have  belonged  to  different  bodies  at  death, — the  diffi- 
culty has  been  answered  by  the  sweeping  remark, 
"  There  is  nothing  impossible  with  God." 

We  know  there  is  nothing  impossible  with  God, 
which  does  not  involve  absurdity  or  wrong.  God  can- 
not deny  himself;  and  he  cannot  make  a  thing,  at  the 
same  time,  to  be  and  not  to  be.  It  is  easy  to  conceive 
that  the  same  particles  which  compose,  in  part,  the 
body  of  an  individual  when  he  dies,  may  be  a  compo- 
nent part  of  another  at  a  subsequent  date.  But  that 
the  same  particle  of  matter  should,  at  the  same  time, 
constitute  parts  of  different  bodies,  is  impossible  in  the 
nature  of  things. 

But  the  resurrection  of  the  gross  earthly  body,  is 
not  a  Scriptural  doctrine.  That  which  is  raised  is  not 
that  which  was  deposited  in  the  sepulchre,  or  grave. 
The  resurrection  is  a  deliverance  from  hades,  the  stato 
of  the  dead,  and  not  from  mnemeia,  the  tombs.  Wc 
have  remarked  in  another  division  of  this  chapter,  that 
there  are  thousands  of  the  human  race  who  were  nevei 
interred  in  innemeia,  or  graves ;  but  all  go  to  hades. 
This  word  is  never  used  in  the  plural ;  it  is  significant 
of  one  state,  in  which,  as  Job  says,  "are  the  small 
and  great,  and  the  servant  is  free  from  his  master.'^ 
"  There  the  prisoners  rest  together,  and  they  hear  not 
the  voice  of  the  oppressor."  Joseph  was  supposed  by 
his  father  to  have  been  devoured  by  an  evil  beast.  No 
sepulchre  contained  the  ashes  of  his  mortal  body. 
But  he  Avas  in  hades,  whither  Jacob  expected  to  go 
and  meet  him.  When  the  witch  of  Endor  was  re- 
quested to  bring  up  Samuel,  she  did  not  go  to  the 
sepulchre  of  his  body  to  divine  over  that,  nor  was 
there  the  least  idea  of  disturbing  his  mouldering  mor- 
tal frame.     The  state  of  the  dead  was  supposed  to  be 


WHAT    SHALL    BE    RAISED.  361 

a  subterranean  region,  and  it  was  the  manes  of  Samuel 
that  was  expected  to  be  brought  up.  It  was  supposed 
to  be  a  conscious,  yet  dreamy  state;  and  Samuel  is 
represented  as  saying  to  Saul,  ^'  Why  hast  thou  dis- 
quieted me,  to  bring  me  up.*''  From  this  state  it  was 
supposed  to  be  tq?^  to  any  point  of  the  earth's  surface. 
I  do  not  refer  to  this  case  of  divination,  as  authori- 
tative revelation  touching  the  state  of  the  dead.  In- 
deed the  very  use  of  the  word  sheol^  or  hades^  in  ap- 
plication to  it,  denoted  that  it  was  an  unrevealed, 
unknown,  hidden  state.  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  truth 
of  the  account  referred  to,  as  a  simple  narrative  of 
what  transpired  in  relation  to  Saul.  He  was  not  in  a 
situation  to  scrutinize  the  transactions  himself,  and 
the  woman  knew  enough  of  his  circumstances  to  pre- 
dict with  great  safety,  what  would  be  the  result  of 
the  morrow's  battle.  Either  she  contrived  to  manage 
the  case  successfully  with  the  dejected,  credulous  king, 
or  God  savsT  fit  to  interpose  with  his  warning  to  the 
unrighteous  monarch.  But  this  is  not  to  our  present 
point.  My  design  in  referring  to  this  and  other  cases 
is  to  shoAv,  that  when  the  Scriptures  speak  of  persons 
in  hades^  or  the  state  of  death,  they  speak  not  of  the 
body  in  the  tomb,  but  of  the  intellectual  and  moral 
nature,  the  mind,  the  spirit, — or  the  individual  as  a 
personal  identity.  These  personal  identities  the  peo- 
ple of  Old  Testament  times  conceived  of  as  existing, 
though  in  a  state  of  which  they  formed  no  clear  con- 
ception. And  when  there  were  prophetic  breathings, 
(as  there  were  at  sundry  times)  of  the  sentiments  of 
hope  for  a  resurrection  of  the  dead,  it  was  of  a  reorgani- 
zation of  these  dreamy  manes^  to  bring  them  up  into 
perfect  active  being.     Hence  the  accomplishment  of 

2 1  Sam.  xxviii.  15. 
ox 


362  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

such  a  rising  of  the  dead  was  not  denominated  the 
destruction  of  the  tombs,  but  of  hades.  "I  will  ran- 
som them  from  the  power  of  hades^  I  will  redeem 
them  from  death :  O  death,  I  will  be  thy  plagues ;  O 
hades ^  I  will  be  thy  destruction."  "" 

This  is  the  view  which  St.  Paul  gives  on  the  point 
under  consideration.  In  his  labored  argument  on  the 
resurrection,  from  which  we  have  already  derived  so 
rich  instruction,  he  raises  an  objection  for  the  opposer. 
^'  But  some  men  will  say,  How  are  the  dead  raised 
up?  and  with  what  body  do  they  come?"  The  ques- 
tion is  not,  How  are  the  dead  bodies  raised  up  ?  and 
with  what  body  shall  the  dead  bodies  appear  ?  The 
dead  are  conceived  of  in  a  personal  capacity,  as  spirits, 
(whether  dreamily  conscious,  or  unconscious,  it  affects 
not  the  present  argument,)  and  the  question  is  pro- 
posed, How  shall  they  be  reorganized  into  tangible 
active  beings?  and  with  what  body  shall  they  be 
clothed? 

The  objection  was  designed  to  imply,  on  the  part 
of  the  opposer,  that  as  the  mortal  body  was  mouldered 
away,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  was  incredible,  as 
they  had  no  bodies  to  be  raised  in.  But  the  apostle 
replies, — "Thou  fool,  that  which  thou  sowest  is  not 
quickened,  except  it  die ;  and  that  which  thou  sowest, 
thou  sowest  not  that  body  that  shall  be,  but  bare 
grain,  it  may  chance  of  wheat  or  some  other  grain ; 
but  God  giveth  it  a  body  as  it  hath  pleased  him,  and 
to  every  seed  its  own  body."  That  is,  to  each  seed  is 
given  that  body  which  belongs  to  its  species. 

The  sense  of  this  figure  is  to  the  point.  The  old 
body  of  the  germinating  seed  dies,  and  is  not  raised 
again.     There  is  a  spirit,  a  germ  of  the  seed,  that 

aHos.  xiii.  14. 


WHAT   SHALL    BE   RAISED.  363 

lives,  and  constitutes  its  identity  in  species  with  the 
seed  sown.     But  it  hath  a  new  body,  as  God  has  been 
pleased,  by  the  laws  of  his  creation,  to  give  it.     But 
the  figure  is  not  to  be  applied  in  all  its  points,  nor  are 
figures  generally.     Figures  and  comparisons  are  only 
meant  to  be  applied  in  those  prominent  points  which 
are  brought  to  bear  directly  upon  the  subje<Jt  in  ques- 
tion.    The  purpose  of  the  apostle  in  the  use  of  this 
figure  was,  to  teach   that   the   old   body  will  not  be 
raised  in  the  resurrection,  but  that  God  will  give  us 
new  bodies.     There  is  another  fact  in  the  case  of  the 
.grain,  viz.,  that  the  new  body,  though  not  the  former 
hull  raised  up,  is  like  the  former.     But  this  point  the 
apostle  did  not  intend  to  have  applied  to  his  subject. 
Nay,  he  guards  against  such  an  application,  by  pro- 
ceeding directly  to  explain,  that  the  resurrection  body 
of  man  shall  be  different  from  the  earthly  body.    Enu- 
merating different  descriptions  of  bodies,  one  of  which 
differs  from  another  in  glory,  he  adds, — "  So  also  is 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead.     It  is  sown  in  corruption; 
it  is  raised  in  incorruption :  it  is  sown  in  dishonor ;  it 
is  raised  in  glory :  it  is  sown  in  weakness :  it  is  raised 
in  power:  it  is  sown  a  natural  body;   it  is  raised  a 
spiritual  body.     There  is  a  natural  body,  and  there  is 
a  spiritual  body.     Howbeit,  that  was  not  first  which 
is  spiritual,  but  that  which  is  natural ;  and  afterward 
that  which  is  spiritual." 

So  then,  as  God  has,  out  of  these  grosser  elements, 
organized  bodies  for  us  here,  adapted  to  the  purposes  of 
our  being  in  this  earthly  state, — he  will,  of  refined  ethe- 
real substance,  organize  for  us  new  and  glorious  bodies, 
better  adapted  to  the  legitimate  developments  of  mind, 
and  fitted  for  the  heavenly  state  of  being.  And  then, 
though  we  shall  inherit  new  and  immortal  bodies,  we 


364  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

shall  be  the  same  identical  persons,  knowing  ourselves 
to  be  the  same,  raised  into  a  higher  and  better  life. 
That  which  constituted  the  man  on  earth,  shall  con- 
stitute the  man  in  heaven. 

The  conscious  identity  of  the  person  depends  not  on 
a  connexion  with  the  same  particles  of  matter.  There 
is  a  continual  waste  of  the  physical  system,  which  is 
supplied  by  other  matter  digested  from  the  aliments 
leceived.  By  this  process,  all  the  gross  substances  of 
the  body  are  changed  every  fev/  years,  and  we  have 
literally  new  bodies.  Yet  the  person^  the  man,  is  iden- 
tically and  consciously  the  same.  And  so  he  will  be 
when  God  shall  give  him  a  heavenly  body. 

There  is  a  beautiful  expression  of  this  sentiment  in 
Paul's  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  (v.  1 — 4.) 
*'  For  we  know,  that  if  our  earthly  house  of  this  taberna- 
cle were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  an  house 
not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  For  in  this 
we  groan,  earnestly  desiring  to  be  clothed  upon  with  our 
house  which  is  from  heaven:  if  so  be  that,  being  clothed, 
we  shall  not  be  found  naked.  For  we  that  are  in  this 
tabernacle  do  groan,  being  burdened :  not  for  that  we 
would  be  unclothed,  but  clothed  upon,  that  mortality 
might  be  swallowed  up  of  life."  This  is  the  same 
subject  that  was  treated  in  the  former  Epistle  to  that 
church,  in  chapter  fifteenth.  The  result  he  there 
described  by  the  saying,  "Death  is  swallowed  up  in 
victory ; "  and  the  language  describing  the  same  in 
this  passage  is,  "  That  mortality  might  be  swallowed 
up  of  life.'^  And  here  is  the  same  distinction  made  be- 
tween the  person  and  the  body,  as  in  the  other  case. 
The  body  is  represented  under  the  figure  of  a  house. 
This  mortal  body  is  called  an  earthly  house  which 
shall  be  dissolved ;  and  the  resurrection  body  is  called 


WHAT    SHALL    BE    RAISED.  365 

a  building  of  God,  an  house  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens.  And  there  is  no  intimation 
that  the  latter  house  was  to  be  composed  of  the  ashes 
of  the  former.  By  this  resurrection,  it  is  not  the  tomb, 
but  Jiades^  that  shall  be  deprived  of  its  victory.  For, 
as  we  have  had  occasion  repeatedly  to  observe  before, 
at  the  consummation  of  this  glorious  resurrection 
work,  the  joyful  shout  of  triumph  shall  be  raised,  ''O 
hades,  where  is  thy  victory  ?" 

There  are  a  few  expressions  in  the  apostolical  writ- 
ings which  have  been  thought  to  indicate  the  rising 
of  these  earthly  bodies ; — Such,  for  instance,  as  ''  This 
corruptible  shall  put  on  incorruption ;  and  this  mortal 
shall  put  on  immortality."  And  again,  "  Who  shall 
change  our  vile  body,  that  it  may  be  fashioned  like 
unto  his  glorious  body,  according  to  the  working 
whereby  he  is  able  even  to  subdue  all  things  to  himself.'"* 
These  passages  have  been  thought  to  mean,  that  these 
mortal  bodies  shall  be  made  immortal.  But  the  ex- 
pression is  the  same  as  that  which  closes  the  sketch 
of  the  resurrection  in  chapter  fourth  of  Second  Co- 
rinthians, viz.,  "That  mortality  might  be  swallowed 
up  of  life.  Whereas  in  the  very  sketch  thus  closed,  it 
is  distinctly  stated  that,  "If  the  earthly  house  of  this 
tabernacle  were  dissolved,''  (not  if  it  were  raised,  but 
if  it  were  dissolved^)  we  have  a  building  of  God,  an 
house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens." 
And  the  apostle  would  be  unclothed  of  this  earthly 
tabernacle,  not  that  he  might  be  naked,  but  clothed 
upon  with  the  heavenly  body.  Hence  it  is  obvious 
that  the  sayings  referred  to,  of  this  corruptible  put- 
ting on  incorruption,  and  this  vile  body  being  fash- 
ioned like  unto  his  glorious  body,  are  but  brief  and 

bPhil.  iii.  21. 

31* 


366  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

comprehensive  expressions  of  the  idea,  that  we,  who 
here  exist  in  a  mortal  constitution,  shall  hereafter  be 
made,  as  it  respects  the  entire  being,  immortal  and 
glorious. 

The  resurrection  of  the  earthly  body  of  Christ  has 
been  employed  as  an  argument  for  the  rising  of  the 
mortal  bodies  of  mankind.  But  we  are  nowhere  in- 
formed that  this  circumstance  was  designed  to  incul- 
cate such  a  lesson.  His  rising  from  the  dead,  into 
life,  was  designed  as  demonstrative  proof  of  the  resur- 
rection of  our  race.  But  the  work  of  decomposition 
had  not  commenced  in  his  body,  and  it  was  necessary 
that  he  should  resume  that  body  for  the  then  present, 
as  a  witness  to  the  fact  of  his  real  resurrection.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  mind,  or  spirit,  organized  in  a  hea- 
venly body  adapted  to  its  full  developments,  can 
recognize  spirit  by  mental  discernment.  I  have  tested 
clairvoyant  experiments,  to  know  that  the  mind,  even 
here,  may  be  placed  in  a  position  so  to  exercise  its 
powers,  as  to  recognize  other  minds.  But  it  was  ne- 
cessary that  Jesus,  after  his  resurrection,  should  be 
recognized  by  the  bodily  organs,  the  physical  senses 
of  his  friends.  Otherwise  they  could  not  have  been 
duly  qualified  witnesses  of  his  resurrection.  Their 
testimony  may  have  passed  with  the  ghost  stories  of 
the  times.  Even  for  themselves,  they  could  not  have 
determined,  by  their  natural  faculties,  that  their  very 
Master  had  indeed  come  forth  from  the  dead.  It  will 
be  recollected  that  his  own  apostles  needed  to  see  for 
themselves  that  it  was  the  person,  in  very  form,  with 
whom  they  had  been  acquainted ;  and  some  of  them 
must  needs  examine  the  nail-prints  in  his  hands.  By 
such  personal  examination,  they  were  qualified  to  go 
forth  with  the  bold  language  of  John  ; — "  That  which 


WHAT    SHALL    BE    RAISED.  367 

was  from  the  beginning,  which  we  have  heard,  which 
we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  which  we  have  looked 
upon,  and  our  hands  have  handled,  of  the  Word  of  life  ; 
(for  the  life  was  manifested,  and  we  have  seen  it, 
and  bear  witness,  and  show  unto  you  that  eternal 
life,  which  was  with  the  Father,  and  was  manifested 
unto  us ;)  that  which  we  have  seen  and  heard,  de- 
clare we  unto  you."'' 

Since,  then,  the  coming  forth  from  the  tomb  of  the 
earthly  body  of  Jesus,  was  indispensably  necessary 
for  the  purpose  just  explained,  and  also,  as  I  may 
have  added,  to  take  from  his  enemies  their  expected 
argument  for  his  imposture,  by  showing  his  body  in 
their  own  possession  after  the  third  day  from  his 
death, — and  since  the  circumstance  was  never  applied 
by  his  witnesses  to  any  other  purpose,  we  have  no 
authority  to  argue  from  it  further.  Who,  indeed,  ex- 
pects to  see  Jesus  in  the  heavenly  state,  with  the  nail- 
prints  forever  in  his  hands  and  feet,  and  the  perfora- 
tion of  the  soldier's  spear  in  his  side  ?  Yet  this  may 
as  Avell  be  argued  from  the  fact  of  his  showing  them 
to  his  disciples,  and  even  that  his  being  raised  with 
those  wounds  is  proof  that  men  will  be  raised  with 
their  bodily  scars  and  deformities,  as  that  the  coming 
forth  of  his  body  from  the  sepulchre  is  proof  that  our 
fleshly  bodies  shall  be  raised.  To  us  it  is  obvious 
that  this  appearance  on  earth  for  the  space  of  forty 
days  after  his  resurrection,  was  not  that  of  his  glori- 
fied body;  for  then  "  would  his  face  have  shone  like 
the  sun,  and  his  raiment  have  been  white  as  the 
light."  "^  And  should  any  ask  what  became  of  the 
crucified  body,  upon  his  ascension  on  high, — let  it  be 
considered,   that   the   power  which   has    formed   the 

c  1  John  i.  1—3.  d  Matt.  xvii.  2. 


368  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

gross  substances  of  our  bodies  from  the  arcana  of  the 
elements,  even  the  power  which  raised  up  Christ 
from  the  dead,  could  dissipate  those  substances  again 
at  pleasure. 

Shall  loe  know  each  other  in  Heaven  7 

By  some,  this  question  has  been  regarded  as  one  of 
trifling  importance  ;  but  with  me  it  involves  the  chief 
interest  of  the  future  life.  If  we  know  not  one 
another,  we  shall  not  know  ourselves :  and  to  talk 
to  me  of  my  being  raised  into  another  life,  where  I 
shall  neither  recognize  myself  nor  the  loved  ones  of 
earth,  would  be  but  to  mock  my  hopes.  It  would  be 
but  to  promise,  what  the  infidel  and  atheist  believes, 
a  succession  of  other  beings,  when  we  are  no  more. 
The  recognition  of  ourselves  and  of  one  another  in 
the  future  life,  is  essentially  and  necessarily  involved 
in  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  the  resurrection.  The 
life  from  the  dead  which  is  promised,  is  our  life,  and 
that  of  our  felloiv-beifigs  ;— so  that  we  should  be  com- 
forted concerning  our  friends  who  are  fallen  asleep, 
through  the  hope  that  they  shall  live  with  us,  and  we 
with  them,  in  a  life  immortal.  But  if  we  are  not  to 
possess  conscious  identity  there,  then  we  have  no 
future  life,  though  God  may  create  other  grades  of 
beings  after  us.  On  this  point,  I  can  see  no  ground 
for  a  question. 

On  the  doctrine  of  personal  identity  in  the  future 
life,  is  also  founded  the  argument  which  reconciles 
with  the  wisdom  of  God,  the  allotment  to  man  of  this 
mortal  existence.  If  mankind  are  to  enter  the  future 
life  ignorant  of  having  existed  before,  then  why  might 
they  not  have  been  made  immortal  at  first  ?  For  how 
then  can  they  be  advantaged  by  the  weaknesses,  the 


THE    RESURRECTION.  369 

sorrows  and  trials  of  earth,  and  by  passing  down  into 
the  valley  of  death  ?  How  then  can  they  admire  a 
crucified  and  risen  Saviour? — and  how  shall  they 
praise  God  for  their  deliverance  from  the  bondage  of 
corruption,  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children 
of  God  ?  Indeed,  the  idea  of  our  recognition  of  our- 
selves and  one  another  in  heaven,  is  inseparably 
interwoven  with  all  the  Scripture  teachings  of  a 
future  life, — with  all  the  consolations  of  experimental 
hope, — with  the  familiar  intercourse  of  Jesus  with  his 
friends  after  his  resurrection, — with  the  fact  that  even 
in  his  glorified  state  he  "  knows  how  to  be  touched 
with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,"^ — and  with  all 
the  visits  of  angelic  servants  of  God  from  the  spirit- 
land,  bespeaking  a  sympathetic  interest  for  men,  and 
bearing  for  ns  messages  of  love. 

Does  any  object  to  this  doctrine  of  personal  identity 
in  heaven,  on  the  ground  that  a  remembrance  of  the 
doings  and  incidents  of  the  mortal  life,  may  be  a 
source  of  eternal  guilt  and  suffering?  If  the  objector 
is  a  Christian,  let  him  review  the  revealed  doctrines 
of  the  gospel,  and  he  will  find  among  them  such  an 
operation  as  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  This  subject  is 
explained  in  chapter  seventh  of  this  work.  It  com- 
prises the  idea  of  a  deliverance  from  sin,  and  a  free- 
dom from  its  sting ;  the  restoration  of  the  sinner  on  his 
reformation,  to  the  privileges  of  the  righteous.  Let 
him  look  at  the  brethren  of  Joseph,  when  they  had 
fully  comprehended  how  the  Lord  overruled  their 
evil  for  good, — at  St.  Paul,  when  his  soul  had  become 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  him  whom  he  had  perse- 
cuted with  madness. — and  at  the  distinguishing  spirit 
and  purpose  of  the  gospel,  through  which  God  is  in 

e  Heb.  iv.  15. 


370  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,  "  wo^  imput- 
ing their  trespasses  unto  them  f^  and  in  the  light 
derived  from  these  sources,  he  will  perceive,  that 
though  we  shall  never  take  pride  in  a  remembrance 
of  our  own  past  errors,  but  shall  learn  hence  humility, 
— yet  God  may  give  to  our  memory  some  better  em- 
ployment, amidst  all  the  great  things  he  hath  done  for 
us,  than  to  serve  forever  as  a  mere  accuser. 

On  the  Time  of  the  Resurrection. 

Whether  there  shall  be  a  simultaneous  resurrection 
of  all  men  from  the  dead  on  some  unknown  future 
day,  or  whether  the  work  is  going  on  progressively,  is 
a  question  on  which  there  is  a  diversity  of  opinions 
among  different  sects  of  Christians.  As  it  is  a  mere 
question  of  time,  in  relation  to  a  work  which  belongs 
to  God  alone,  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  made  a 
special  subject  of  revelation.  The  Scriptures  teach 
that  man  shall  live  again,  and  that,  too,  in  a  life  which 
shall  never  end.  In  this  cheerful  hope,  we  are  re- 
quired to  do  as  Jesus  did,  commend  our  spirits  into 
the  Father's  hand.  Our  first  waking  moment  will  be, 
to  us,  the  next  to  that  wherein  we  shall  have  fallen 
asleep. 

But  though  this  question  does  not  appear  to  be 
specially  and  designedly  answered  by  revelation,  yet 
there  seem  to  be  some  remarks  and  facts  incidentally 
given,  which  may  have  a  bearing  upon  it.  The  con- 
versation of  Jesus  with  the  Sadducees,  though  applied 
directly  to  the  fact  of  a  future  life,  seems  in  some  of 
its  circumstances  to  involve  the  idea  of  a  progressive 
esurrection.  He  said  unto  them,  "  And  as  touching 
the  dead  that  they  rise,  have  ye  not  read  in  the  book  of 

f  2Cor.  V.  19. 


THE    RESURRECTION.  371 

Moses,  how  in  the  bush  God  spake  unto  him,  saying, 
I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and 
the  God  of  Jacob  1  He  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead, 
but  the  God  of  the  hving :  ye  therefore  do  greatly 
err."°  True,  it  is  urged  on  the  other  side,  that  this  is 
spoken  in  the  sense  in  which  God  "calleth  those 
things  which  be  not  as  though  they  were."  But  the 
language  most  naturally  comports  with  the  idea  of  a 
regular  administration  of  God,  in  raising  man  to  a 
higher  hfe.  And  so  in  the  very  passage  just  referred 
to  is  this  idea  uppermost :—"  As  it  is  written,  I  have 
made  thee  a  father  of  many  nations,  before  him  whom 
he  believed,  even  God,  who  quickeneth  the  dead^  and 
calleth  those  things  which  be  not  as  though  they 
were.'""  Here  the  quickening  of  the  dead  is  spoken 
of  as  a  common  work  with  Jehovah. 

And  the  language  of  St.  Paul  in  one  of  the  passages 
which  were  adduced  to  another  point,  seems  appli- 
cable here : — "  For  we  know,  that  if  our  earthly  house 
of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building 
of  God,  an  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens.  For  in  this  we  groan,  earnestly  desiring  to 
be  clothed  upon  with  our  house  which  is  from  hea- 
ven. Not  for  that  we  would  be  unclothed,  but  clothed 
upon,  that  mortality  might  be  swallowed  up  of  life. 
Therefore  we  are  always  confident,  knowing  that 
whilst  we  are  at  home  in  the  body  we  are  absent  from 
the  Lord  :  for  we  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight:  (that 
is,  our  enjoyment  of  Christ's  presence  is  by  faith,  not 
by  personally  seeing  him  as  he  is;)  we  are  confident, 
I  say,  and  willing  rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body, 
and  to  be  present  with  the  Lord."  In  this  case,  the 
apostle  seems  very  clearly  to  express  the  sentiment, 

&  Mark  sii.  26,  27.  ^  Rom.  iv.  17. 


372  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

that  when  he  should  be  unclothed  of  the  earthly  body, 
he  should  be  successively  clothed  upon  with  the  hea- 
venly ;  that  when  he  should  be  absent  from  the  body, 
he  should  be  present  with  the  Lord. 

The  same  sentiment  is  expressed  with  equal  clear- 
ness, in  the  letter  to  the  Philippian  church  ; — (i.  21 — 
24;)  ''For  to  me  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die  is  gain. 
But  if  I  live  in  the  flesh,  this  is  the  fruit  of  my  labor ; 
yet  what  I  shall  choose  I  wot  not.  For  I  am  in  a 
strait  betwixt  two,  having  a  desire  to  depart,  and  to 
be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better;  nevertheless,  to 
abide  in  the  flesh  is  more  needful  to  you."  Now  such 
apostolical  Isinguage  as  this,  seems  utterly  incompati- 
ble with  the  idea  of  a  suspension  of  the  work  of  life 
for  many  ages,  before  rising  to  be  with  Christ.  And 
when  Jesus  spake  to  his  disciples  of  going  from  them, 
referring  to  his  passing  through  death,  and  rising,  and 
going  to  the  Father,  upon  his  saying  to  them,  as  he 
had  said  to  the  Jews,  "Whither  I  go  ye  cannot 
come,"'  Peter  proposed  the  inquiry,  "Whither  goest 
thou?"  And  "Jesus  answered  him.  Whither  I  go, 
thou  canst  not  follow  me  now ;  but  thou  shalt  follow 
me  afterwards."  This  does  not,  to  be  sure,  describe 
the  length  of  time  afterwards  to  the  coming  of  his  dis- 
ciples into  the  heavenly  world :  but  the  familiar  idea 
expressed  is  that  of  a  proper  succession  of  events. 

I  will  add,  that  the  translation  of  Enoch  and  Elijah 
are  incidents  which  favor  the  view  that  the  introduc- 
tion of  man  into  the  heavenly  state,  as  into  the 
present  world,  is  a  progressive  work.  So  is  the  re- 
mark of  the  angel  to  John, — the  angel  whom  Christ 
sent  to  communicate  to  him  the  appropriate  revela- 
tion.    When  John  fell  down  to  worship  before  the 

'  John  xiii.  36. 


THE    RESURRECTION.  373 

feet  of  the  angel  who  showed  him  these  things,  then 
said  the  angel  unto  him,  "  See  thoa  do  it  not;  for  I  am 
thy  fellow-servant,  and  of  thy  brethren  the  prophets, 
and  of  them  which  keep  the  sayings  of  this  book."J 
He  was  one  of  the  prophets  raised  from  the  dead. 
And  the  disciples  in  the  vision  of  the  transfigura- 
tion, saw  Moses  and  Elias  talking  with  the  Son  of 
man." 

It  is  conceded  that  St.  Paul's  description  of  the 
resurrection,  in  1  Cor.  xv.,  and  1  Thess.  iv.,  treat  of 
it  as  if  it  were  to  be  a  simultaneous  work,  altogether 
in  future  time.  But  to  my  mind,  the  evidence,  though 
chiefly  incidental,  which  is  presented  on  the  other 
side,  may  warrant  the  conclusion  that  in  these  two 
instances,  where  the  resurrection  was  made  the  entire 
subject  of  discourse,  the  apostle  adopted  the  strong 
and  unqualified  style  of  those  chapters  as  a  convenient 
testimony  of  the  work  as  a  whole.  In  relation  to  a 
great  purpose  which  is  in  progress,  when  a  bold  testi- 
mony to  its  certainty,  and  description  of  its  full  con- 
summation is  given,  it  is  natural  to  throw  it  into  the 
future  tense,  and  to  treat  it  as  one  event,  without  dis- 
tinction of  periods  in  its  progress. 

The  most  plausible  objection  to  the  belief  of  a  pro- 
gressive resurrection,  admitting  it  to  have  commenced 
in  the  former  ages,  is  in  the  fact  that  Christ  is  denom- 
inated the  first-fruits  of  them  that  slept.  But  it  is 
certain,  however,  that  he  raised  several  of  the  literally 
and  really  dead  in  his  own  lifetime,  which  was  before 
his  own  resurrection.  The  facts  too,  which  we  have 
adduced,  concerning  Enoch,  Elijah,  Moses,  Elias,  and 
the  angel  who  was  one  of  the  former  prophets,  are  all 
in  our  memory.     If  these  are  to  have  the  weight  we 

J  Rev.  xxii.  9.  ^  Matt.  xvii.  3. 

32 


374  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

have  allowed  them,  then  Christ  as  the  first-fruits  of 
them  that  slept,  is  to  be  understood  of  the  order  of 
rank,  rather  than  of  time, — being  the  One  appointed 
of  God  as  the  head  of  the  heavenly  state,  and  as 
the  One  to  rise  from  the  dead,  in  a  manner,  and  for 
the  purpose,  to  complete  and  establish,  as  a  great 
system  of  revelation,  the  doctrine  of  our  immortal 
hopes. 

Finally,  it  is  the  pleasant  belief  of  the  writer,  and 
he  thinks  this  belief  is  authorized  by  the  general  con- 
currence of  evidence  in  the  case,  and  confirmed  by  the 
philosophy  of  all  God's  works,  not  that  man  shall 
enter  upon  the  fully  developed  life  immortal  the  next 
moment  after  physical  death,  but  that  of  the  principles 
of  life  there  is  no  annihilation : — that  in  the  work  of 
life  there  are  no  ages  of  suspension ; — that  as  it  is  with 
the  insects  and  plants  which  have  a  second  life,  and 
with  all  things  in  God's  creation  which  are  appointed 
to  different  stages, — so  with  man,  whose  first  stage  is 
the  present  life ; — the  principles  of  life  shall  operate, 
unto  the  reorganization  of  the  perfect  man,  by  the 
progressive  workings  of  God.  With  this  faith  we  care 
not  to  know  the  precise  time;  it  would  have  been 
incompatible  with  the  purposes  and  the  relations  of 
our  present  being,  to  have  had  it  given  us  to  know 
what  shall  immediately  succeed  the  moment  of  our 
decease.  The  idea  of  the  successive  operations,  through 
the  regenerative  power  of  God,  of  the  principles  of  life, 
unto  the  perfecting  of  our  new  and  heavenly  being, 
will  accord  with  the  sentiment  of  our  being  unclothed 
of  this,  "that  we  may  be  clothed  upon  of  our  house 
which  is  from  heaven."  And  here  we  rest,  in  filial 
confidence  of  the  dying  Master, — "Father,  into  thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit." 


THE   RESURRECTION.  375 

The  reader  will  bear  in  mind,  that  I  have  not  been 
laboring  to  decide  upon  the  condition  of  man  in  the 
intermediate  state  between  death  and  the  resurrection. 
The  Hebrews  used  the  word  sheol  for  the  state  of  the 
dead,  to  signify  that  it  was  dark,  hidden,  unrevealed. 
And  the  Greek  hades  is  used  for  the  same  purpose. 
Into  this  state  I  have  not  seen  the  light  of  revelation 
shine.  When  Christ  arose  from  the  dead,  though 
by  his  resurrection  he  brought  the  final  immortal 
state  of  the  human  creation  to  light,  he  did  not  bring 
the  state  of  the  dead  to  light.  He  gave  no  account  of 
what  or  where  he  was  from  his  crucifixion  to  that  time. 
Hades  is  hades  still.  The  imaginations  of  some  learned 
speculators  have  been  there,  and  they  have  confused 
the  minds  of  many  more  by  the  different  reports  which 
they  have  given  of  it.  But  for  me  the  sentiment  of 
Moses  shall  suffice, — "Secret  things  belong  to  God, 
but  the  things  which  are  revealed,  to  ourselves  and 
our  children." 

It  is  called  "the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death." 
When  my  mind  has  gone  to  the  borders  of  this  valley, 
the  next  spot  on  which  I  see  the  light  of  revelation 
clearly  shine,  is  the  mountain  of  the  resurrection,  over 
beyond  this  valley.  And  it  is  unto  that  mountain,  not 
into  this  valley,  that  I  have  been  directing  your  atten- 
tion for  the  hope  of  the  future. 

There  is  one  passage,  however,  which  has  been 
thought  to  contradict  the  assertion  that  hades  remains 
hades  still.  It  is  taken  by  spme  to  be  a  direct  exposi- 
tion of  circumstances  and  transactions  in  sheol^  or  the 
intermediate  state.  Consequently,  though  it  does  not 
relate  to  the  main  subject  of  this  chapter,  yet  as  it  is 
thought  by  others  to  relate  to  an  incidental  matter 
which  we  have  embraced  in  it,  I  will  appropriate  this 


376  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

place  for  a  consideration  of  it.     The  case  referred  to  is 
that  of 

The  Spirits  in  Prison. 

^^  For  Christ  also  hath  once  suffered  for  sins^  the  just 
for  the  ujijust^  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God ;  being 
jnit  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  by  the  spirit^  by 
which  also  he  ivent  and  preached  imto  the  spirits  in 
prison;  ivhich  sometime  id  ere  disobedient,  when  once  the 
long-suffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of  Noah^ 
while  the  ark  was  a  preparing,  loherein  fexo^  that  is 
eight  soids,  were  saved  by  watery^ 

Most  writers  of  commentaries  on  the  Scriptures, 
have  supposed  that  St.  Peter  here  spoke  of  Christ's 
preaching  by  his  spirit  through  Noah,  at  the  time  the 
ark  was  preparing  before  the  dehige.  But  no  reason 
is  offered  for  this  view  of  the  text,  other  than  the 
simple  fact  that  the  circumstance  of  the  deluge  in  the 
days  of  Noah  is  here  introduced.  But  this  circum- 
stance is  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  my  mind  that  Chrisfs 
preaching  to  the  spirits  in  prisoji,  was  Noah^s  preach- 
ing to  the  antediluvians.  This  preaching  was  ascribed 
to  Christ.  What  was  done  by  his  apostles  and  minis- 
ters, whom  he  chose,  qualified  and  sent  out,  might 
justly  be,  and  often  is  ascribed  to  Christ,  as  if  he  per- 
sonally did  it.  But  I  know  of  no  apostolical  usage, 
for  applying  directly  to  Christ  the  works  performed  by 
men  before  he  came  into  the  world.  And  this  preach- 
ing to  the  spirits  in  prison,  is  ascribed  directly  to 
Christ,  and  is  introduced  as  something  performed  after 
his  resurrection,  or  being  quickened  by  the  spirit. 
"  For  Christ  also  hath  once  suffered  for  sins,  the  just 

'  1  Peter  iii.  18—20. 


THE  SPIRITS    IN   PRISON.  377 

for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God;  being 
put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  by  the  spirit, 
by  which  also  he  went  and  preached  unto  the  spirits 
in  prison."  Now  it  is  clear,  that  if  there  was  any 
such  work  performed  as  here  described,  as  I  think  I 
shall  be  able  to  show  that  there  was,  by  Christ's  own 
power  and  authority,  subsequently  to  his  being  quick- 
ened by  the  spirit,  it  will  be  most  reasonable  to  apply 
the  text  to  such  subsequent  work. 

Others  have  understood  Peter  to  teach  in  this  place, 
that  the  spirits  of  the  antediluvians  were  in  a  prison 
of  darkness,  suffering  punishment  for  their  sins  on 
earth,  and  that  the  spirit  of  Christ,  between  his  death 
and  resurrection,  went  down  into  that  prison  to  preach 
to  them,  and  to  save  them. 

We  will  now  examine  whether  it  is  fair  to  conclude 
that  Peter  designed  to  teach,  by  the  words  before  us, 
as  a  doctrine  of  fear  to  influence  our  conduct,  that 
there  is  a  prison  in  which  men  are  shut  up  and  pun- 
ished after  death  for  the  sins  of  this  life,  and  that  Christ 
went  on  a  mission  there  during  the  time  when  his 
body  was  in  the  sepulchre.  I  offer  the  following 
reasons,  which  influence  my  mind  against  such  an 
understanding  of  it. 

1st.  No  such  doctrine  was  ever  taught  by  the  patri- 
archs and  prophets,  who,  through  the  space  of  nearly 
four  thousand  years,  were  commissioned  of  God  to 
warn  the  people  of  all  real  dangers  with  regard  to 
their  conduct  in  life.  Since  these  patriarchs  and  pro- 
phets were  commissioned  of  God  to  declare  to  the 
people  of  the  first  four  thousand  years  the  dangers  to 
which  sin  would  expose  them,  and  since  they  did  not 
teach  the  people  that  they  would  be  put  into  a  prison 
for  punishment  after  death,  I  feel  obliged  to  conclude 
32* 


378  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

that  such  a  prison  was  not  one  of  the  dangers  to  which 
they  were  exposed. 

It  will  not  be  to  the  point  for  my  brother  to  argue 
here,  that  we  may  as  well  conclude  that  the  doctrine 
of  life  and  immortality  is  not  true,  because  it  was  not 
revealed  under  the  Old  Testament  dispensation;  for 
this  doctrine  is  there  revealed,  though  not  so  clearly  as 
in  the  New  Testament  But  what  if  it  had  not  been 
revealed  under  the  Old  Testament  dispensation  at  all? 
It  is  what  God  has  secured  to  all  men  by  his  own  pur- 
pose and  grace,  and  is  not  to  be  either  obtained  or  lost 
by  their  works.  It  is,  therefore,  a  different  subject 
from  that  which  relates  to  the  rewards  and  punish- 
ments of  human  doings.  And  further,  the  patriarchs 
and  prophets  were  not  specially  commissioned  to  be 
ministers  of  the  doctrine  of  life  and  immortality ;  but 
they  v)ere  specially  commissioned  and  enjoined  to 
encourage  the  people  in  virtue,  and  dissuade  them  from 
sin,  by  plainly  declaring  to  them  the  benefits  of  the 
former,  and  the  evils  of  the  latter.  I  cannot  accuse 
them  of  unfaithfulness;  and  consequently,  as  they 
did  not  warn  the  people  of  a  prison  for  punishment 
after  death,  I  cannot  admit  that  such  a  prison  was  one 
of  the  evils  to  which  they  were  exposed.  And,  accord- 
ingly, I  consider  it  both  fair  and  requisite,  as  lovers 
of  the  Scripture,  to  take  the  position  that  if  the  lan- 
guage of  the  text,  written  in  the  year  of  the  world 
4063,  will  admit  of  any  other  fair  construction,  we 
ought  not  to  apply  it  to  the  doctrine  of  such  infernal 
prison. 

2d.  But  Peter  does  not  here  introduce  the  mention 
of  the  spirits  in  prison  as  the  main  subject  of  discourse, 
nor  as  a  motive  of  fear  to  restrain  sinners,  nor  as  if  he 
designed  to  make  a  communication  of  anything  new. 


THE    SPIRITS    IN    PRISON.  379 

He  was  engaged  in  urging  upon  his  brethren  the  ex- 
ample of  Christ,  who  suffered  for  sinners,  and  being 
raised  again  from  the  dead,  pursued  their  interest,  in- 
structing and  enlightening  those  who  were  in  prison. 
This  mention  of  the  spirits,  or  as  Wakefield  translates 
it,  the  minds  of  men  in  prison,  is  introduced  incidentally 
to  illustrate  the  remarks  concerning  Christ's  faithful- 
ness to  the  interests  of  mankind,  and  the  benefits  of  his 
mission,  which  extended  to  sinners.  But  nothing  ap- 
pears here  like  a  design  to  introduce  any  new  doctrine 
in  relation  to  the  dangers  of  sin. 

3d.  If  St.  Peter  designed  to  teach  that  all  who  died 
in  unbelief  before  the  coming  of  Christ,  had  been  kept 
in  a  state  of  suffering  in  an  infernal  prison,  and 
were  visited  by  Christ's  spirit  between  the  time  of 
his  death  and  resurrection,  why  did  he  mention  those 
in  particular,  and  those  o??7y,  who  were  drowned  in 
the  deluge?  This  reference  to  the  antediluvians,  and 
the  mention  of  ihe  few  of  them  who  were  saved  upon 
the  water,  appears  like  a  design  to  introduce  a  co?7i- 
parisofi  between  that  case  and  some  other;  but  it 
does  ?iot  appear  like  a  design  to  teach  the  doctrine  of 
all  unbelieving  souls  going  into  an  infernal  prison  after 
death. 

4th.  But  this  text  does  not  say  that  the  work  here 
ascribed  to  Christ  was  performed  between  the  time  of 
his  death  and  resurrection.  Nor  is  there  any  other 
text  of  Scripture  which  asserts  that  Christ  did  any 
work  during  the  time  when  he  was  in  the  state  of 
death.  The  language  of  the  text,  with  the  preceding 
context,  implies  that  the  work  here  ascribed  to  Christ 
was  performed  after  his  resurrection.  "  Being  put  to 
death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  by  the  spirit;  by 
which  also  he  went  and  preached  to  the  spirits  in 


380  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

prison."  He  was  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  then 
quickened  by  the  spirit, — and  then,  by  the  same  spirit 
or  power  by  which  God  raised  him  from  the  dead,  he 
enabled  him  to  preach  to  the  spirits  in  prison. 

Having  now  given  my  reasons  against  adopting 
either  of  the  opinions  on  this  text,  that  it  signifies 
Clirist's  ^preaching  formerly  through  Noah,  or  his 
preaching  to  souls  in  an  infernal  prison, — I  will  pro- 
ceed to  present  what  I  consider  a  rational  and  Scrip- 
tural interpretation  of  the  passage. 

And  here  I  will  premise,  that  the  word  spirits  in  the 
Scriptures,  sometimes  means  men,  or  the  minds  of  men, 
who  are  alive  in  the  flesh;  as  ^^the  spirits  ofjiistmen 
made  perfect ^^^  (Heb.  xii.  23,)  unto  whom  the  Hebrew 
Christians  had  come,  certainly  means  living  men. 
They  had  come  into  a  unison  of  mind  with  just  men, 
made  perfect  in  love.  And  in  the  phrase  "  Father  of 
spirits, ^^  (Heb.  xii.  9,)  the  sentiment  is  the  same  as  in 
the  saying,  "  We  are  also  his  off*spring."  God  is  our 
Father.  And  ''he  is  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all 
flesh,"  i.  e.  he  is  the  God  of  all  men. 

But  on  this  word  there  are  several  various  readings 
in  ancient  copies  of  the  New  Testament.  Dr.  Adam 
Clark  says  that  in  some  of  the  Greek  MSS.  it  reads  in 
spirit,  the  word  spirit  applying  to  Christ.  By  which 
he  came  m  sjnrit,  and  preached  to  them  who  were  in 
prison.  And  he  says  that  he  had  before  him,  in 
writing  his  Commentary,  one  of  the  first,  if  not  the 
very  first  edition  of  the  Latin  Bible,  in  which  the 
verse  stands  thus:  "By  which  he  came  spiritually, 
and  preached  to  thdm  that  were  in  prison."  And  in 
several  very  ancient  MSS.  of  the  Vulgate,  which  he 
had  in  his  possession,  the  clause  was  similar.  Christ 
came   in  spirit  and  preached  to  them  who  were  in 


THE    SPIRITS    IN    PRISON.  381 

prison.  Or,  as  Wakefield  renders  it,  "  preached  to  the 
minds  of  men  in  prison." 

Who,  then,  were  those  men  in  prison,  to  whom  Christ 
preached  in  spirit  after  his  resurrection  from  the  dead  7 
On  this  subject  the  Scriptures  give  us  very  clear  and 
satisfactory  light.  The  Lord  said  by  the  prophet 
Isaiah,  "Behold  my  Servant,  whom  I  uphold;  mine 
Elect,  in  whom  my  soul  delighteth ;  I  have  put  my 
spirit  upon  him ;  he  shall  bring  forth  judgment  to  the 
Gentiles.  I  the  Lord  have  called  thee  in  righteous- 
ness, and  will  hold  thine  hand,  and  will  keep  thee, 
and  give  thee  for  a  covenant  of  the  people,  for  a  light 
of  the  Gentiles ;  to  open  the  blind  eyes,  to  bring  out 
the  prisoners  from  the  prison,  and  them  that  sit  in 
darkness  out  of  the  prison-house."  Here  the  prophet 
speaks  of  the  Gentiles  as  being  in  darkness  and  in 
pnso}i,  and  of  Christ  being  appointed  by  the  spirit  of 
God  to  give  them  light. 

In  another  place  Christ  is  represented  as  saying, — 
'•'  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  the  Lord 
hath  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  to  the  meek, 
to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted,  to  proclaim  liberty  to 
the  captives,  and  the  ope?iing  of  the  j)rison  to  them  that 
are  hounds 

But  this  work  of  liberating  the  Gentiles^  who  were 
especially  meant  by  those  in  darkness  and  in  prison, 
did  not  go  into  eflectual  operation,  until  Christ  had 
been  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  and  raised  again  by  the 
spirit  of  God.  During  his  life  in  the  flesh,  he  charged 
his  ministering  disciples  not  to  go  in  the  way  of  the 
Gentiles,  but  rather  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel.  But  when  he  had  been  put  to  death,  and  had 
risen  again,  he  commanded  his  apostles,  saying.  '•  Go 
ye  into  all  the  worlds  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 


382  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

creature.'^''     And  he  promised  to  be  with  them  alway, 
even  mito  the  end  of  the  age. 

Soon  the  apostles  went  among  the  Gentiles  with  the 
gospel  ministry,  and  great  multitudes  of  these  spiritual 
prisoners  received  the  word  with  gladness.  And  as 
the  apostles  did  all  things  in  the  work  of  their  ministry 
through  Christ  loho  strengthened  them^  hereby  Christ 
ivas  preaching  to  'inen  who  were  in  prison. 

But  how  shall  we  understand  the  saying,  "By 
which  he  went  and  preached  to  the  spirits  (or  minds 
of  men)  in  prison,  lohich  sometime  ivere  disobedient^ 
when  once  the  long-suffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days 
of  NoahV  Does  not  this  prove  that  Peter  meant  that 
Christ  preached  to  the  same  individuals  who  were 
drowned  by  the  flood?  In  answer  to  this  I  will 
remark,  that  Wakefield^  in  his  translation  of  the  New 
Testament,  supplies  the  word  as  here,  to  express  what 
he  thinks  the  connection  shows  to  be  the  true  meaning. 
He  thinks  that  the  scope  of  the  apostle's  discourse,  and 
especially  the  word  feio^  "wherein  feio  were  saved 
upon  the  water,"  denotes  a  comparison,  which  must 
be  expressed  by  supplying  the  word  as,  thus, — "By 
which  he  went  and  preached  to  the  minds  of  men  in 
prison,  who  were  disobedient  as  those  upon  whom  the 
long-suffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of  Noah:" 
meaning  that  he  preached  to  the  Gentiles  who  were 
alive  on  the  earth  in  the  apostolic  age,  but  were  as 
disobedient  as  the  antediluvians. 

But  I  do  not  perceive  the  need  of  this  supplement  of 
the  word  as  to  express  the  sense  here.  I  would  take 
it  as  it  stands.  Christ,  after  his  resurrection,  preached 
to  the  same  2)eople,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  Scrip- 
tures often  speak  of  a  people,  though  not  to  the  same 
individuals,  which  were  sometimes  disobedient  in  the 


THE    SPIRITS    IN    PRISON.  383 

days  of  Noah.  God  said  to  Abraham,  ''Thy  seed 
shall  be  a  stranger  in  a  land  that  is  not  theirs,  and 
shall  serve  them  four  hundred  years, — and  afterwards 
they  shall  go  out  with  great  substance."  Not  one  of 
the  individuals  that  went  down  into  Egypt  lived  to  go 
out  again.  Yet  they  were  called  the  same  2?eople  who 
went  out.  And  long  after  all  the  individuals  who 
went  out  of  Egypt  were  dead,  it  was  said  to  that 
people  that  the  Lord  delivered  them  from  bondage  in 
Egypt,  and  made  them  a  great  nation.  And  so  on,  the 
events  which  took  place  upon  that  class  of  the  human 
race,  through  different  ages,  are  represented  as  taking 
place  upon  the  same  people. 

And  there  was  another  grand  division  of  the  human 
race,  called  heathen,  or  Gentiles.  And  although  these 
particular  names  were  not  applied  to  them  in  Noah's 
time,  there  was  the  same  description  of  people.  And 
they  then  constituted  a  very  large  poriiori  of  the  world. 
They  were  loithont  God,  i.  e.  atheists,  or  idolaters^ 
in  the  world.  And  the  same  description  of  people,  St. 
Paul  sets  forth  the  Gentiles  to  be  in  his  day.  But  to 
this  people,  men  in  prison,  who  through  all  ages  have 
been  atheistical  and  idolatrous,  and  who  even  in 
Noah's  time  were  disobedient,  insomuch  that  only  few 
lives  were  saved  upon  the  water, — to  them  Christ,  after 
his  resurrection,  preached  the  gospel  by  his  inspired 
servants,  to  the  enlightening  and  liberation  oi  thousands. 

St.  Peter,  who  was  the  first  that  went  with  the 
gospel  among  the  Gentiles,  speaks  on  the  same  subject 
in  the  4th  chapter  of  this  Epistle.  "For  this  cause 
was  the  gospel  preached  also  to  them  that  are  dead, 
that  they  might  be  judged  according  to  men  in  the 
flesh,  but  live  according  to  God  in  the  spirit." 

This  verse  Wakefield  translates  thus; — "For  this 


384  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

indeedj  was  the  effect  of  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to 
the  dead,  (the  unconverted  Gentile,)  that  some  will  be 
punished  as  carnal  men,  but  others  lead  a  spiritual 
life  unto  God." 

Macknight  renders  it,  "  For  this  purpose  hath  the 
gospel  been  preached  to  the  dead,  (i.  e.  the  Gentiles,) 
that  although  they  might  be  condemned  indeed  by 
men,  in  the  flesh,  (their  persecutors,)  yet  they  might 
live  eternally  by  God  in  the  spirit." 

KnaichbuWs  translation  of  it  is  this, — "For  this 
cause  was  the  gospel  preached  to  them  that  were 
dead,  that  they  who  live  according  to  men  in  the 
flesh,  may  be  condemned;  but  that  they  who  live 
according  to  God  in  the  spirit,  may  live." 

All  these  agree  in  understanding  the  dead  in  this 
case  to  mean  the  Gentiles.  They  were  spiritually  in 
prison  and  in  death.  St.  Paul,  addressing  Gentile 
believers,  said,  "You  hath  he  quickened,  who  were 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins." 

So,  then,  we  have  received  no  message  from  the 
deeps  of  hades.  But  we  hear  the  fiat  of  Jehovah,  pro- 
nouncing the  final  destruction  of  hades,  by  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead  to  life.  And  now,  as  we  are 
about  closing  our  remarks  upon  this  subject,  let  it  be 
observed  by  the  reader,  that  we  have  not  asserted  the 
equality  of  all  men  in  the  resurrection  state,  in  respect 
to  all  their  faculties  and  graces.  We  have  endeavored 
to  walk  in  the  simplicity  of  gospel  truth,  receiving  and 
reflecting  the  clear  light  of  revelation.  In  this  light 
Ave  look  through  the  vista  of  the  ages,  and  see  death 
swahowed  up  in  the  victory  of  a  higher  and  better 
life,  sin  finished,  and  tears  wiped  away  from  off  all 
faces.  But  what  shall  be  the  first  emotions  of  men 
on  awaking  to  the  future  life, — of  men  who  had  closed 


THE    RESURRECTION.  385 

their  earthly  career  at  different  stages  of  progress, — we 
say  not  J  for  God  has  not  taught  us.  That  they  will  be 
freed  from  the  positive  evils  which  flesh  is  heir  to,  and 
placed  in  circumstances  of  vastly  greater  favor  as  to 
mental  and  moral  progress,  which  shall  make  it  a  state 
of  reconciliation  to  God,  we  have  abundantly  shown 
from  the  testimony.  As  for  the  rest,  every  one  is  at 
liberty  to  philosophize  for  himself  But  this  much  is 
settled,  that  the  inspired  teachers  have  given  us  no 
authority  for  dogmatizing  with  our  philosophies,  as  if 
they  were  the  essentials  of  Christian  faith  and  virtue. 
Finally,  if  we  are  blessed  with  that  Scripture  light 
in  which  we  see  the  evil  of  sin,  we  shall  not  be  envi- 
ous of  the  wicked.  If  we  have  true  conceptions  of  the 
excellence  of  the  Christian  knowledge  and  graces,  they 
will  constitute  the  supreme  good  of  our  soul's  desire. 
And  if  we  have  the  spirit  of  Christian  perfectness,  love 
to  God  and  love  to  man,  the  progress  of  others,  even 
from  below  us,  unto  the  knowledge,  and  love,  and 
enjoyment  of  our  God,  instead  of  troubling  our  envy, 
will  increase  our  own  admiration,  thankfulness  and 
joy. 

33 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  SOVEREIGNTY  OF  GOD,  AND  MORAL 
ACCOUNTABILITY  OF  MAN. 

"  Him,  being  delivered  by  the  foreknowledge  and  determinate  council  of 
God,  ye  have  taken,  and  with  wicked  hands  have  crucified  and  slain." 
Acts  ii.  23. 

SECTION    I . 

The  Foreknowledge  and  Sovereignty  of  God. 

The  above  words  of  Scripture  distinctly  set  before 
us  the  reputed  perplexing  subject  of  the  foreknowledge 
and  sovereignty  of  God,  in  connection  with  the  moral 
accountability  of  man. 

It  is  often  asked  as  an  unanswerable  question,  "  If 
God,  either  by  his  foreknowledge  or  predetermination, 
or  both,  has  made  certain  any  future  character  or  con- 
duct of  his  creatures,  how  are  they  accountable  for 
that  conduct?"  Many  have  wrecked  their  minds 
almost  to  distraction  in  making  effort  to  settle  this 
inquiry ;  and  not  a  few,  finding  themselves  unable  to 
settle  the  question  to  the  satisfaction  of  their  own 
minds,  have  turned  away  and  denied  the  premises. 
They  have  discarded  the  doctrine  of  God's  having 
a  determinate  counsel,  or  even  a  foreknowledge,  in 
relation  to  the  future  doings  of  his  moral  accountable 
creatures. 

That  learned  and  popular  commentator.  Dr.  A. 
Clarke,  has  furnished  us  the  followmg  labor  of  con- 
fused thought  on  this  important  subject.  "God  is 
omniscient,  and  can  knoio  all  things ;  but  does  it  follow 
from  this  that  he  7nust  know  all  things  ?     Is  he  not  as 


THE  FOREKNOWLEDGE   AND   SOVEREIGNTY   OF   GOD.    387 

free  in  the  volition  of  his  wisdom^  as  he  is  in  the  voli- 
tion of  his  'pmver  7  God  has  ordained  some  things  as 
absolutely  certain  ;  these  he  knows  as  absolutely  certain. 
He  has  ordained  other  things  as  contingent ;  these  he 
knows  as  contingent.  It  would  be  absurd  to  say,  that 
he  foreknows  a  thing  as  only  contingent,  which  he 
has  made  absolutely  certain.  And  it  would  be  as 
absurd  to  say,  that  he  foreknows  a  thing  to  be  abso- 
lutely certain,  which  in  his  own  eternal  counsel  he  has 
made  contingent.  By  absolutely  certain,  I  mean  a 
thing  which  must  be  in  that  order,  time,  place,  and 
form,  in  which  Divine  Wisdom  has  ordained  it  to  be ; 
and  that  it  can  be  no  otherwise  than  this  infinite  counsel 
has  ordained.  By  contingent,  I  mean  such  things  as 
the  infinite  wisdom  of  God  has  thought  proper  to 
poise  on  the  possibility  of  being  or  not  being,  leaving 
it  to  the  will  of  intelligent  beings  to  turn  the  scale. 
To  deny  this  would  involve  the  most  palpable  contra- 
dictions, and  the  most  monstrous  absurdities.  *  =^  Sin 
is  no  more  sin,  a  vicious  human  action  is  no  crime,  if 
God  have  decreed  it,  and  by  his  foreknowledge  and 
will  impelled  the  creature  to  act  it.  On  this  ground 
there  can  be  no  punishment  for  delinquencies ;  for  if 
everything  be  done  as  God  has  predetermined,  and  his 
determinations  must  necessarily  be  all  right,  then 
neither  the  instrument  nor  the  agent  has  done  wrong. 
Thus  all  vice  and  virtue,  praise  and  blame,  merit  and 
demerit,  guilt  and  innocence,  are  at  once  confounded, 
and  all  distinctions  of  this  kind  confounded  with 
them." 

"  Now  allowing  the  doctrine  of  the  contingency  of 
human  actions,  (and  it  must  be  allowed  in  order  to 
shun  the  above  absurdities  and  blasphemies,)  then  we 
see  every  intelligent  creature  accountable  for  all  its 


388  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

works,  and  for  the  use  it  makes  of  the  powers  with 
which  God  has  endued  it.  And  to  grant  all  this  con- 
sistently, we  must  also  grant,  that  God  foresees 
nothing  as  ahsoliitely  and  inevitably  certain,  which  he 
has  made  contingent ;  and  because  he  has  designed  it 
to  be  contingent,  therefore  he  cannot  know  it  as  abso- 
lutely and  inevitably  certain.  I  conclude  that  God, 
though  omniscient,  is  not  obliged,  in  consequence  of 
this,  to  know  all  that  he  can  know;  no  more  than  he 
is  obliged,  because  he  is  omnipotent,  to  do  all  that  he 
can  do." 

Such  is  the  reasoning  of  Dr.  Clarke.  It  will  be 
acknowledged  that  he  presents,  in  its  strongest  light, 
the  popular  objection  to  the  doctrine  of  the  foreknowl- 
edge and  decrees  of  God.  And  he  denounces  the 
doctrine  as  involving  the  most  monstrous  absurdities 
and  blasphemies.  But  let  us  see  how  well  or  how  illy 
he  succeeds,  in  clearing  himself  from  absurdities  and 
blasj)hemies.  The  Doctor  perceived  that  to  say  a 
thing  is  foreknown  of  God,  makes  it  to  be  as  certain  to 
take  place,  as  to  say  he  decreed  it;  indeed,  that  his 
foreknowing  it  involves  the  fact  of  his  having  decreed 
it.  And  this  is  evident;  for  though  a  man  may  be 
made  to  foreknow  an  event  which  he  does  not  purpose, 
it  is  because  there  is  a  power  above  him  which  pur- 
posed jt,  and  reveals  to  him  the  knowledge  of  it.  And 
to  suppose  that  God  foreknows  the  events  that  are  to 
come,  and  yet  has  not  purposed  them,  would  be  to 
suppose  there  is  a  fate,  or  some  power  before  God, 
which  laid  out  the  chain  of  events  that  should  come, 
making  certain  their  causes,  and  then  God  rose  up,  and 
by  his  prescience  looked  forward,  and  saw  the  chain 
of  causes  and  effects  which  he  had  no  agency  in  es- 
tablishing, but  which  a  prior  power  had  fixed  before 


THE  FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  SOVEREIGNTY  OF  GOD.     389 

him.  And  this  \yould  not  reUeve  the  difficulty  at  all 
in  relation  to  human  accountability :  for  if  events  be- 
longing to  the  doings  of  men  were  foreknown  of  God 
to  be  certainly  so,  and  could  not  be  otherwise,  whe- 
ther that  certainty  were  founded  in  the  operation  of 
causes  in  the  nature  of  things  as  fixed  by  eternal  fate, 
or  whether  it  were  founded  in  the  purpose  of  God,  the 
question  labors  in  the  same  perplexity,  ''  How  is  man 
worthy  of  either  praise  or  blame  for  what  he  does  7" 

But  to  escape  this  difficulty.  Dr.  Clarke,  (I  name 
him  because  he  is  the  most  prominent  mouth-piece  of 
this  sentiment,)  denies  God's  foreknowledge  of  the 
moral  actions  of  mankind,  and  so  involves  himself  in 
the  strange  absurdity,  that  the  omniscient  God  is  igno- 
rant of  all  future  events  in  relation  to  the  moral  char- 
acter and  condition  of  the  human  race  !  Yes,  when 
he  devised  the  plan  of  creating  a  race  of  intelligent 
beings,  and  when  he  called  this  race  into  existence,  he 
had  no  knowledge  of  what  any  of  them  would  ever 
do,  or  of  what  might  be  their  moral  state  and  condi- 
tion. He  chose  to  be  thus  ignorant,  to  leave  the 
moral  actions  and  circumstances  of  all  his  creatures 
contingent  even  to  himself,  having  no  knowledge  of 
what  they  would  be  until  they  should  transpire.  So 
then,  as  the  history  of  the  world  is  a  history  of  doings, 
and  circumstances,  and  events,  belonging,  directly  and 
indirectly,  to  the  moral  actions  of  mankind,  we  are  here 
required  to  view  the  history  of  all  nations,  from  the 
creation  of  the  world  unto  the  present  time,  as  a  his- 
tory of  undirected  contingencies.  And  the  professed 
Christian,  with  this  view,  can  no  more  hope  in  the 
Divine  government  for  any  future  moral  good,  than 
the  veriest  skeptic,  who  believes  in  no  God.  For  this 
sentiment  represents,  nay,  it  asserts,  that  God  does  not 


390  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

'purpose — that  he  does  not  even  know  any  moral 
transaction  or  condition  of  mankind,  before  it  comes  to 
pass.  This  sentiment  will  afford  us  no  hope  for  the 
continued  happiness  of  any  saint  of  God,  even  in  the 
immortal  state.  For  it  represents  that  what  God  fore- 
knows as  absolutely  certain,  it  is  no  virtue  or  holiness 
in  the  creature  to  do,  even  if  it  be  in  itself  good. 
Therefore  God  does  not  foreknow  that  there  will  be  any 
holiness  in  heaven,  for  if  he  foreknew  it  as  absolutely 
certain,  it  would  not  be  holiness.  And  if  God  does  not 
know  that  men  will  be  holy  in  heaven,  then  he  has  not 
revealed  any  such  knowledge,  and  we  of  course  have 
no  information  on  which  to  hope  for  future  holiness 
and  peace. 

Such  is  the  strange  and  hopeless  condition  in  which 
we  of  necessity  become  involved,  by  assuming  the  sen- 
timent which  denies  the  purpose  and  foreknowledge 
of  God  concerning  the  moral  state  of  mankind.  For 
the  reason  which  they  who  espouse  this  sentiment 
offer  for  so  doing  is,  that  if  a  train  of  causes  and  effects 
is  fixed  of  God,  so  that  he  foreknows  all  their  opera- 
tions and  results,  including  even  the  moral  actions  of 
men,  then  there  is  no  virtue  or  vice,  no  praise  or 
blame-worthiness,  in  human  works.  The  argument 
affects  what  are  called  virhimis  as  well  as  vicious  ac- 
tions, assuming  that  one  class  of  actions  no  more  have 
merit  or  virtue  in  them,  than  the  other  class  have 
blame,  unless  God  himself  is  ignorant  of  them,  not 
knowing  what  they  will  certainly  be,  until  after  they 
take  place.  Therefore,  as  they  are  not  willing  to  give 
up  all  idea  of  righteousness  and  sin  in  the  human  char- 
acter, they  choose  to  deny  the  foreknowledge  and  de- 
terminate counsel  of  God  in  relation  to  those  moral 
concerns.  Of  course  they  must  deny  God's  positive 
foreknowledge  that  any  portion  of  his  creatures  will 


THE  FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  SOVEREIGNTY  OF  GOD.     391 

be  righteous  in  the  future  world ;  for  if  he  have  pur- 
posed so  as  to  foreknow  what  will  be  their  moral 
character  there,  then  there  can  be  no  righteousness,  as 
well  as  no  sin  there.  Men  must  be  there  without 
moral  characters,  must  cease  to  be  moral  beings.  And 
will  that  be  heaven,  where  men  have  no  moral  char- 
acter? Which  horn  of  the  dilemma  will  you  take? 
Will  you  allow  that  God  certainly  foreknows  the 
characters  of  men  in  heaven,  and  therefore  they  will 
have  no  character  there?  or  will  you  maintain  that 
men  will  have  a  moral  character  in  heaven,  you 
know  not  what,  and  that  God  is  ignorant  of  what  it 
will  be  ? 

The  learned  commentator  referred  to,  denounces  as 
absurd  and  blasphemous  the  sentiment  which  he  is 
pleased  to  say  denies  tlie  accountability  of  man.  Is  it 
any  less  absurd  and  blasphemous  to  deny  the  omnis- 
cience of  God,  and  disallow  him  any  share  in  the 
government  of  the  moral  world ;  to  represent  the  grand 
concerns  of  the  moral  creation  as  under  the  sole  direc- 
tion of  atheistical  chance^  and  sink  the  doctrine  of  a 
Divine  revelation  and  enlightened  hope  of  future  moral 
good? 

But  why  should  we  deny  either?  How  happy 
would  it  have  been  for  the  universe,  if  there  had  been 
wisdom  in  the  Creator  to  devise  a  system  of  creation, 
so  that  he  could  have  allowed  himself  to  be  omniscient, 
to  know  and  superintend  the  affairs  of  his  moral  crea- 
tures, and  yet  they  be  accountable  beings,  having 
individual  moral  characters.  And  such,  yes,  so  hon- 
orable to  God  and  grateful  to  man,  I  think  we  shall 
yet  find  the  fact  to  appear. 

But  some  may  accuse  me  of  doing  injustice  to  Dr. 
Clarke,  in  saying  that  he  denies   God's  omniscience. 


392  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY.  \ 

He  says  that  God  is  omniscient.  True,  but  he  defines 
omniscience  to  be  merely  the  poiver  to  know  all  things, 
and  not  the  possession  of  infinite  knowledge.  Thus 
while  he  ascribes  to  God  the  term  omniscient,  he  at  the 
same  time  denies  the  fact  of  his  omniscience,  by  a  false 
definition  of  the  word.  For,  although  all-powerful 
signifies  an  ability  to  do  all  things,  yet  all-knowing  does 
not  signify  merely  an  ability  to  know  all  things.  For 
if  ability  to  know  all  things  constituted  omniscience, 
though  that  ability  might  not  be  employed  to  gain 
knowledge,  or  actually  to  know,  then  we  might  be 
presented  with  an  omniscient  being  actually  kriow- 
ing  nothing,  choosing  to  withhold  the  exercise  of 
his  power  to  know,  and  remaining  in  utter  igno- 
rance. Yes,  and  upon  this  definition  of  knowledge,  its 
being  the  power  or  capacity  to  know,  then  the  ignora- 
mus^ who  knows  not  his  letters,  may  be  called  a  wise 
and  learned  man,  because  he  had  ability  to  learn,  if 
he  had  chosen  to  exert  that  ability  for  the  acquisition 
of  knowledge.  But  it  is  not  so.  Omniscience  is  all- 
knowing,  the  possession  of  all  knowledge.  And  who- 
ever ascribes  to  God  an  ignorance  of  anything  past, 
present,  or  to  come,  denies  his  om7iiscie?ice. 

But  Dr.  Clarke  does  not  find  himself  able  to  carry 
out,  uncontradicted,  this  sentiment  of  God's  voluntary 
ignorance  of  the  moral  actions  of  men.  In  immediate 
connexion  with  this  unaccountable  efibrtof  his  to  limit 
the  actual  knowledge  of  God,  he  gives  the  following 
full  and  necessary  definition  of  the  Divine  omnis- 
cience, which  we  quoted  in  a  former  chapter: — ''God 
cannot  have  foreknowledge,  strictly  speaking,  because 
this  would  suppose  there  was  something  coming,  in 
what  we  call  futurity,  which  had  not  yet  arrived  at 
the  presence  of  the  Deity.     Neither  can  he  have  any 


THE  FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  SOVEREIGNTY  OF  GOD.      393 

afterknowledge,  strictly  speaking,  for  this  would  sup- 
pose something  that  had  taken  place,  in  what  we  call 
pretereity,  or  past  time,  had  now  got  beyond  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Deity.  As  God  exists  in  all  that  can  be 
called  eternity^  so  he  is  equally  everywhere :  nothing 
can  be  future  to  him,  because  he  lives  in  all  futur- 
ity :  nothing  can  be  past  to  him,  because  he  equally 
exists  in  all  past  time;  futurity  and  pretereity  are 
relative  terms  to  us ;  but  they  can  have  no  relation  to 
that  God  who  dwells  in  every  point  of  eternity,  with 
whom  all  that  is  past,  all  that  is  present,  and  all  that 
is  future  to  man,  exists  in  one  infinite,  indivisible,  and 
eterno.l  ?zo?r." 

Who  would  imagine  that  the  man  who  could  give 
such  a  definition  of  the  omniscience  of  God.  holds  at 
the  same  time  that  there  was  a  most  important  class 
of  events,  viz.,  moral  events,  which  had  not  in  the 
beginning,  and  have  not  yet,  arrived  at  the  presence 
of  the  Deity?  If  God  dwells  in  every  point  of  eter- 
nity, so  that  all  that  is  past,  all  that  is  present,  and  all 
that  is  future  to  man,  exists  with  God  in  one  infinite, 
indivisible,  and  eternal  nou\  then  surely  every  event, 
moral  as  well  as  physical,  future  as  well  as  past  and 
present,  is  known  to  God.  And  being  known  to  God, 
it  belongs  to  a  course  of  operation  by  a  train  of  causes 
and  effects  which  he  has  established,  and  is  certain  to 
take  place.  Yes,  such  an  event  as  the  wicked  cruci- 
fixion of  Jesus  Christ,  was  according  to  the  determi- 
nate counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God.  To  this  con- 
clusion we  are  brought  by  our  belief  in  the  proper 
omniscience  and  supremacy  of  God,  and  precisely  this 
is  asserted  by  the  sacred  penman  in  the  words  at  the 
head  of  this  chapter. 

But  there  is  a  way  which  some  have,  otherwise  to 


394  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

dispose  of  our  text.  We  will  refer  again  to  the  learned 
commentator  before  quoted.  And  here  let  me  remark, 
I  do  not  quote  his  words  by  way  of  controversy  with 
Dr.  Clarke,  nor  as  a  reviewer  of  his  works.  I  am  on  a 
a  subject,  which,  to  many  minds,  seems  perplexing. 
Certain  objections,  and  attempts  at  explanation,  are 
common  among  us.  And  rather  than  expose  myself 
to  the  charge,  or  even  the  suspicion,  of  not  stating  the 
objections  and  opposing  explanations  fairly,  by  giving 
them  in  my  own  language,  I  choose  to  present  them 
in  the  language  of  one  of  their  own  strongest  and 
boldest  authors.  This  is  the  only  purpose  for  which 
I  quote  Dr.  Glarke.  This  commentator  says  on  the 
Avords  which  I  have  placed  at  the  head  of  this 
chapter,  that  this  determinate  counsel  "  is  that  coun- 
sel of  God  which  defined  the  time,  place,  and  circum- 
stance, according  to  his  foreknowledge,  which  always 
saw  what  was  the  proper  time  and  place  for  the 
manifestation  and  crucifixion  of  his  Son:  so  that 
there  was  nothing  casual  in  these  things  ;  God  having 
determined  that  the  salvation  of  a  lost  world  should 
be  brought  about  in  this  way,  and  neither  the  Jews 
nor  the  Romans  had  any  power  here,  but  what  Avas 
given  them  from  above.  It  was  necessary  to  show  the 
Jews,  that  it  was  not  through  Christ's  weakness  or 
inability  to  defend  himself,  that  he  was  taken ;  nor 
was  it  through  their  malice^  merely,  that  he  was  slain ; 
for  God  had  determined  long  before,  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world.  Rev.  xiii.  8,  to  give  his  Son  a  sacri- 
fice for  sin ;  and  the  treachery  of  Judas,  and  the 
malice  of  the, Jews,  were  only  the  incidental  means 
by  which  the  counsel  of  God  was  fulfilled:  the  coun- 
sel of  God  intending  the  sacrifice ;  but  never  ordering 


THE   FOREKNOWLEDGE   AND   SOVEREIGNTY   OF   GOD.    395 

that  it  should  be  brought  about  by  such  wretched 
means.  This  was  'permitted^  the  other  was  decreed^ 
Here  then,  we  have  the  wisdom  of  this  world,  ex- 
posing its  foolishness  more  and  more  conspicuously. 
God's  determinate  counsel  defined  the  time,  place,  and 
circumstance  of  the  crucifixion  of  his  Son ;  he  deter- 
mined that  his  Son  should,  at  that  time  and  place,  be 
crucified,  but  did  not  determine  that  anybody  should 
do  it !  Yes,  according  to  his  determinate  counsel,  he 
delivered  his  Son  into  the  hands  of  men,  for  the  pur- 
pose that  he  might  be  crucified  at  the  determined  time 
and  place,  but  he  did  not  determine,  nor  even  know 
as  an  absolute  certainty,  that  they  would  crucify  him ! 
That  act  of  men  Avas  left  undetermined,  contingent 
and  uncertain,  even  to  God  himself,  until  it  took 
place  !  Does  anybody  believe  this  ?  Can  anybody 
believe  it  ?  That  God  determined  that  a  certain  thing 
should  be  done,  and  done  at  a  particular  time  and 
place,  and  done  by  men  too,  and  yet  did  not  design 
that  men  should  do  it  ?  Is  this  good  sense  ?  If  it  is, 
I  must  confess  that  my  own  mind  is  strangely  consti- 
tuted. And  then,  to  persons  who  handle  the  sacred 
record  in  this  manner,  how  wonderful  must  it  appear 
that  when  their  God  has  determined  that  a  particular 
thing  shall  be  done,  at  a  fixed  time  and  place,  without 
determining  that  anybody  should  do  it,  men  should 
by  chance  take  it  into  their  heads  to  do  that  particu- 
lar thing,  at  the  same  time  and  place,  and  thus  with- 
out God's  designing  it,  be  the  incidental  means  by 
which  God's  design  is  fulfilled  !  It  seems,  then,  if  it 
were  not  for  the  lucky  coincidence  of  these  undirected 
chances  with  the  plans  of  God,  his  designs  would  not 
be  fulfilled.  We  shall  therefore  owe  as  much  praise 
at  least  to  the  atheist's  chance,  as  to  the  Arminian 


396  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

God,  for    any  purposes   which  may  finally  succeed, 
affecting  the  concerns  of  the  moral  universe. 

But  away  with  these  blasphemous  and  mind-de- 
grading sentiments.  We  multiply,  rather  than  escajje 
our  difficulties,  by  denying  the  foreknowledge  and 
purpose  of  God  concerning  the  moral  state  of  his 
moral  creation,  with  a  view  to  support  the  account- 
ability of  man.  Everything  in  doctrine  is  great  loss, 
which  we  must  purchase  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  per- 
fections of  God.  Indeed,  all  labor  to  support  such  a 
view  of  human  accountability  as  must  exclude  the 
foreknowledge  and  purpose  of  God,  is  but  mere  talk, 
mere  verbiage,  against  the  sober  conviction  of  the 
understanding  of  those  who  employ  it.  For  after  all 
is  said,  the  sober  conviction  of  every  mind  which 
reflects  on  the  subject  is,  that  He  who  made  all 
things,  in  whom  we  live  and  move,  knows  all  the 
events  which  take  place  in  his  moral,  as  well  as  in 
his  physical  creation ;  and  that  they  were  just  as  well 
known  to  him  from  the  beginning,  as  they  are  now, 
or  ever  will  be ;  and  that,  of  course,  all  these  events, 
of  both  classes,  belong  to  a  chain  of  causes  and  effects, 
which  is  established  by  the  Author  of  creation,  who  is 
God  alone,  who  sees  the  end  from  the  beginning, 
whose  counsel  shall  stand,  and  he  will  do  all  his 
pleasure.  It  will  not  avail  us,  in  respect  to  the  appli- 
cation of  this  sublime  doctrine,  to  make  a  distinction 
between  great  and  small  events,  and  moral  and  phys- 
ical. For  such  are  the  mutual  and  alternate  bearings 
and  connections  of  these  things,  that 

«  From  the  great  chain  whatever  link  yon  strike, 
Tenth  or  ten  thousandth,  breaks  the  chain  alike." 

AH  will  admit  the  existence  of  this  great  American 


THE   FOREKNOWLEDGE   AND   SOVEREIGNTY   OF   GOD.    397 

nation  to  have  been  embraced  in  the  counsel  of  God. 
For  this,  every  Christian  gives  thanks  to  God,  and 
not  to  luck  and  chance.  But  in  tracing  back  the 
chain  of  events  which  resuhed  in  the  settlement  of 
this  country  by  our  forefathers,  we  touch  upon  thou- 
sands of  incidents,  among  Avhich  the  most  important 
are  doings  of  men,  involving  both  praiseworthiness 
and  blame.  It  required  a  powerful  motive  to  deter- 
mine those  fathers  and  mothers  to  tear  themselves 
from  their  loved  homes,  and  friends,  and  all  the  dear 
and  familiar  scenes  of  earth,  and  embark  upon  the 
trackless  deep,  for  a  waste  howling  wilderness  upon 
these  distant  shores.  What  was  the  reason  ?  It  was 
their  supreme  love  of  their  religion.  And  why  should 
this  have  moved  them  to  such  a  pilgrimage  ?  Because 
they  could  not  enjoy  their  religion,  and  discharge  its 
duties  at  home.  What  hindered  them  ?  It  was  the 
wicked  and  oppressive  measures  of  their  government. 
If  that  government  had  been  otherwise  disposed,  our 
pilgrim  fathers  would  not  have  come  to  these  shores, 
and  this  nation  would  not  have  been  here. 

Permit  me  to  indulge  a  little  personal  reflection.  I 
love  to  regard  myself  as  a  child,  not  of  chance,  but  of 
God.  I  trace  my  lineage  directly  back  to  members  of 
that  pilgrim  band,  who  came  by  the  second  voyage 
of  the  May-Flower  to  the  Plymouth  shore.  Were  it 
not  for  the  tyranny  of  the  English  crown,  as  we  have 
seen,  they  would  not  have  come  here.  And  were  it 
not  for  a  piece  of  bribery,  which  purchased  the  treach- 
ery of  the  May-Flower's  captain,  they  would  have 
been  landed  upon  the  Hudson,  and  not  upon  Plymouth 
rock.  These  important  incidents  in  the  train  being 
different,  thousands  of  connected  and  succeeding  events 
would  have  been  different, — and  /  should  not  have 
34 


398  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

been  here,  nor  upon  the  stage  of  being.  When  I  thus 
meditate,  in  my  devout  and  reverential  confidence  in 
God  as  his  child,  who  hath  numbered  the  very  hairs 
of  my  head,  I  dare  not,  I  cannot  admit  the  thought, 
that  even  the  conduct  of  the  pilot  which  disappointed 
the  plan  of  our  pilgrim  fathers,  was  a  chance,  contin- 
gency, or  accident,  in  relation  to  the  government  of 
God. 

Let  any  of  my  readers  take  a  retrospective  view  of 
his  past  life,  and  he  will  probably  recall  some  event 
which  seemed  insignificant  at  the  time,  which  gave 
such  a  turn  to  affairs,  as  essentially  to  affect,  or  totally 
change,  the  whole  subsequent  course  and  condition  of 
his  life.  If  the  more  important  events  of  his  life  were 
contemplated  in  the  arrangements  of  the  Deity,  so 
was  that  lesser  which  conduced  to  them.  It  belongs 
to  a  chain  of  causes  and  effects,  established  by  the 
wise  and  benevolent  Governor  of  all. 

Such  being  the  truth,  supported  by  Scripture  and 
reason,  let  us  hold  it  fast.  It  is  the  only  principle  on 
which  we  can  rest  the  safety  of  the  universe,  or  enjoy 
any  confidence  in  the  government  of  God.  Will  you 
say  we  must  deny  this,  however  true  it  may  appear, 
in  order  to  make  men  accountable  beings  ? — that  to 
admit  this,  is  to  do  away  all  accountability,  all  virtue 
and  sin  in  the  children  of  men  7  Be  not  so  easily 
frightened.  There  is  no  merit,  nor  wisdom,  nor  pru- 
dence, in  such  rashness.  Rather  say,  that  if  this  sen- 
timent is  true,  then  human  accountability  is  something 
different  from  what  you  have  imagined.  When  you 
have  found  an  important  truth,  do  not  be  frightened 
from  it  by  imagined  difficulties.  Stand  in  the  light 
and  the  power  of  that  truth,  and  encounter  the 
supposed  difficulties  as  faithful  Christians.     Let  the 


THE   FOREKNOWLEDGE   AND   SOVEREIGNTY    OF    GOD.    399 

difficulties  come,  and  examine  them,  and  they  will  be 
found  not  to  be. 

"But  the  difficulty  now  before  us."  says  one,  "I 
cannot  overcome.  If  man  acts  as  he  is  induced,  by 
the  influence  of  means  or  causes  in  the  order  of  things 
established  by  the  foreknowledge  and  determinate 
counsel  of  God,  how  is  he  accountable, — how  is  he  to 
be  praised  or  blamed, — how  is  he  deserving  of  reward 
or  punishment,  for  what  he  does  ?" 

To  answer  this  inquiry,  to  reconcile  the  doctrines 
of  the  Divine  foreknowledge  and  purpose,  and  the 
moral  accountability  of  man,  in  a  manner  most  con- 
ducive to  Christian  faith  and  virtue,  will  be  the  labor 
of  the  succeeding  section. 

SECTION    II. 

Harmony  of  the  Divine  Sovereigfity,  and  Human 
Acconntabilili/. 

It  is  a  question  which  has  confused  and  perplexed 
many  minds,  "If  God,  by  his  foreknowledge  and 
determinate  covmsel,  has  made  certain  any  future 
moral  actions  of  men,  how  are  they  accountable  for 
those  actions?"  The  foregoing  section  offers  various 
important  considerations  preliminary  to  an  under- 
standing of  this  inquiry,  and  which  urge  the  mind  to 
a  most  earnest  effort  to  obtain  such  understanding. 

Some  have  decided  that,  on  the  premises  here 
stated,  men  are  not  accountable  for  their  conduct, 
have  neither  moral  merit  nor  demerit.  And  so,  to 
support  human  accountability,  they  deny  the  prem- 
ises, the  foreknowledge  and  purpose  of  God  in  rela- 
tion to  the  moral  state  of  his  creatures.  Thus  they 
have  deprived  the  moral  creation  of  a  Divine  gov- 
ernment, even  of  a  God  ;  and  have  deprived  them- 


400  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   WVINITY. 

selves  of  any  ground  of  hope  for  future  moral  good. 
For  if  God  have  no  purpose  in  relation  to  the  moral 
condition  of  men,  because  the  existence  and  operation 
of  such  a  purpose  would  incapacitate  men  for  an 
individual  moral  character, — then  we  have  no  Divine 
purpose  to  trust  in  for  future  moral  good,  and  the 
whole  Christian  system  of  faith  and  hope  is  null 
and  void. 

But  no  man  would  ever  think  of  denying  the  fore- 
knowledge of  God,  embracing  all  events,  and  a  fore- 
knowledge the  certainty  of  which  is  based  on  the 
original  and  comprehensive  jy^t'^T^se  of  the  all- wise 
Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  universe,  were  he  not  driven 
into  the  denial  by  affright,  lest  it  should  infringe  on 
the  free  agency  and  the  moral  accountability  of  man. 
And  to  answer  the  inquiry  which  has  raised  this 
bewildering  affright,  to  reconcile  the  doctrines  of  the 
Divine  foreknowledge  and  decrees,  and  the  moral 
accountability  of  man,  in  a  manner  most  conducive 
to  Christian  faith  and  virtue,  is  the  assigned  labor  of 
this  section  of  my  work.  This  I  shall  now  attempt 
to  do, — 

1st.    Scripturally. 

2d.    Philosophically. 

1st.  I  will  show  from  the  Scriptures  that  the  doc- 
trine of  a  Divine  'purpose  concerning  moral  as  well 
as  physical  events,  and  the  moral  accountability  of 
man  for  his  actions,  are  both  true^  and  of  course  con- 
sistent with  each  other. 

A  case  in  point  is  placed  at  the  head  of  this  chapter. 
It  is  furnished  us  by  Peter,  Acts  ii.  22 :  "Him  being 
delivered  by  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowl- 
edge of  God,  ye  have  taken,  and  with  wicked  hands 
have  crucified  and  slain."     The  same  sentiment  is  in 


god's  sovereignty  and  man's  accountability.  401 

Acts  iv.  27,  28:  ''For  of  a  truth,  against  thy  holy 
child  Jesus,  whom  thou  hast  anointed,  both  Herod 
and  Pontius  Pilate,  with  the  Gentiles,  and  the  people 
of  Israel,  were  gathered  together ;  for  to  do  whatso- 
ever thy  hand  and  thy  counsel  determined  before  to 
be  done."  The  sentiment  of  these  Scriptures  is,  that 
the  persecution  and  crucifixion  of  Christ  by  the  hands 
of  men,  was  before  purposed-  of  God,  and  also  that 
they  were  guilty  for  doing  it;  they  did  it  with 
"wicked  hands,"  or  herein  acted  a  sinful  part. 

And  when  Jesus  was  yet  with  his  disciples  on  the 
earth,  he  foretold  to  them  what  persecutions  they 
were  to  suffer  at  the  hands  of  their  religious  opposers. 
He  described  these  transactions  with  all  the  exactness 
with  which  an  eye  witness  could  describe  them  in 
liistory  after  they  had  taken  place.  Of  course  he  had 
committed  to  him  from  God,  of  that  prescience^  by 
which  he  saw  those  transactions  beforehand,  and  saw 
them  to  be  certain  by  the  operation  of  causes  in  the 
fixed  order  of  things  under  the  Divine  government. 
They  could  not  be  otherwise,  because  they  were 
certain  to  be  so,  as  Jesus  saw  and  foretold  they 
would  be.  Yet  those  persecutors  were  condemned 
for  those  deeds  of  malice,  and  were  judged  and  pun- 
ished for  them. 

Look  at  the  case  of  Pharaoh.  God  said  to  Moses, 
when  he  sent  him  to  Pharaoh  with  a  certain  message, 
that  he  would  harden  Pharaoh's  heart,  that  he  should 
not  grant  his  request.  That  is,  though  it  was  neces- 
sary, as  one  means  of  bringing  about  the  designed 
end,  that  Moses  should  go  to  Pharaoh  with  the  mes- 
sage which  the  Lord  directed  him  to  carry,  yet  he 
knew  that  the  influences  in  the  order  of  his  provi- 
dence, would  dispose  Pharaoh  to  refuse  compliance 
34* 


402  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

with  Moses'  request.  Yet  Pharaoh  was  condemned 
for  his  conduct,  and  was  punished  for  it. 

And  so  we  may  go  through  with  the  whole  course 
of  the  prophetic  Scriptures,  and  we  shall  find  a  num- 
berless variety  of  events  predicted,  relating  to  the 
moral  character  and  conduct  of  man  in  then  future 
time, — conduct  both  good  and  evil.  If  God  had, 
according  to  Dr.  Clarke's  plan,  withheld  his  knowl- 
edge of  these  events,  and  poised  them  on  the  pos- 
sibility of  being,  or  not  being,  so  that  even  in  the 
mind  of  God,  they  were  as  likely  not  to  be,  as  to 
be,  how  could  he  have  revealed  to  his  prophets  the 
certain  foreknowledge  of  them?  God  foreknew  all 
these  events  as  certain  to  be,  and  inspired  his  pro- 
phets to  foretell  them  as  certain  to  be,  and  all  which 
related  to  times  which  have  come,  have  certainly 
taken  place  as  they  were  foretold.  Yet  the  actors  in 
these  foreordained,  and  consequently  foreknown  and 
foretold  events,  were  judged  as  subjects  of  praise  or 
blame,  of  reward  or  punishment,  according  to  the 
parts  which  they  severally  acted  in  them. 

The  prophets,  for  instance,  predicted,  among  other 
things,  that  at  a  then  future  time,  many  people  should 
come  and  say,  "  Let  us  go  up  to  the  house  of  the 
Lord,  to  the  mountain  of  the  mighty  God  of  Jacob ; 
for  he  will  teach  us  his  ways,  and  we  will  walk  in 
his  paths."  It  was  then  certain  that  this  prophecy 
would  be  fulfilled,  though  it  spoke  directly  and  solely 
of  the  moral  actions  of  men.  It  was  as  impossible  for 
it  to  be  otherwise,  as  it  is  that  God  should  lie.  God, 
in  the  purpose  of  his  government,  had  provided  those 
means  of  moral  influence,  which  should  dispose  and 
bring  the  people  thus  to  return  and  walk  in  the  paths 
or  the  laws  of  the  Lord.     Yet  this  walking  in  the 


god's  sovereignty  and  man's  accountability.  403 

laws  of  God,  when  it  takes  place,  is  reckoned  a  righte- 
ousness and  a  merit  of  reward  to  them  who  do  so. 

The  inspired  prophets  spoke  beforehand  of  the 
coming  and  the  character  of  the  Messiah.  They  de- 
scribed with  great  particularity  the  character  which 
he  sustained,  and  the  works  which  he  would  per- 
form. And  he  came,  and  he  acted,  precisely  as  they 
foretold.  I  think  there  is  hardly  a  Christian  of  any 
sect,  of  so  great  intellectual  and  moral  perversity 
as  not  to  admit  that  God  purposed,  from  the  begin- 
ning, what  character  his  Son  should  sustain  on  the 
earth,  and  what  works  he  should  perform.  He 
determined,  as  the  prophet  expresses  it,  to  hold  his 
Messiah's  hand  and  keep  him,  to  put  his  spirit  upon 
him,  and  give  him  wisdom  and  understanding,  and  to 
keep  him  surrounded  by  the  influence  of  such  circum- 
stances and  such  principles,  as  that  he  should  certainly 
sustain  the  character  and  perform  the  works  which 
were  purposed.  Yet  was  there  no  merit,  no  virtue, 
no  holiness  in  the  character  and  works  of  Christ? 
Because  his  moral  character  and  works  were  made 
certain  by  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge 
of  God, — will  you  therefore  deny  that  there  was  any 
merit  or  virtue  in  his  works  7  Then  you  must  per- 
ceive that  it  is  not  me,  but  the  Bible,  that  you  are 
contending  against.  For  every  word  of  the  Bible 
concerning  the  Messiah's  character,  shows  that  he 
acted  throughout  according  to  the  previously  fixed 
purpose  of  God,  and  also  that  he  was  a  subject  of 
approbation  and  reward,  as  an  accountable  being,  for 
what  he  did.* 

*  For  further  Scriptural  and  practical  illustrations  of  this  subject,  the 
harmony  of  the  Divine  purpose  with  the  legitimate  action  of  the  moral 
agency  of  man,  see  Chap.  IX.,  sec.  iii.,  pp.  259 — 262, 


404  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

It  seems  unnecessary  to  pursue  this  division  of  our 
subject  longer,  for  it  is  established  beyond  controversy, 
by  authority  of  Scripture,  that  God's  foreknowledge 
and  foreordination  of  the  moral  character  and  works 
of  his  moral  creatures,  is  compatible  with  their  ac- 
countability to  his  moral  law,  and  their  merit  or 
demerit,  approvableness  or  blame,  accordingly  as  their 
actions  agree  or  disagree  with  the  precepts  of  that 
law.  Still  some  minds  remain  unsatisfied.  They 
are  satisfied  that  I  have  established  my  position  by 
the  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  but  they  are  not 
satisfied  of  the  reasonableness  even  of  the  Scripture 
sentiments  on  this  subject.  Their  minds  still  labor 
under  the  inquiry,  "How  can  it  be,  even  as  the 
Scriptures  teach,  that  those  moral  actions  of  men 
which  are  foreknown  of  God,  and  embraced  as  links 
in  the  great  chain  of  events  which  he  has  purposed, 
are  in  justice  approvable  or  condemnable,  rewardable 
or  punishable,  by  the  judgment  of  God  7  How  can 
men  be  accountable  for  such  actions?" — I  will  then 
pass  on, 

2dly — To  consider  the  same  subject  philosophically. 
And  here  I  need  do  but  little  more  than  free  the  mind 
from  certain  false  ideas  attached  to  the  principal  words 
which  the  question  employs,  and  settle  upon  correct 
views  of  the  sense  which  these  terms  bear.  What  do 
you  mean  by  sin  7  Is  it  a  frustration  of  the  Divine 
purposes,  and  disappointment  of  the  Divine  expec- 
tations? If  you  put  this  definition  upon  sin,  no 
wonder  you  cannot  conceive  how  there  can  be  any 
sin,  if  all  events  are  embraced  in  the  original  pur- 
pose of  God.  You  can  have  no  such  sin  until  you 
have  dethroned  God,  and  thwarted  the  purpose  of  his 
government. 


god's  sovereignty  and  man's  accountability.  405 

And  what  do  you  mean  by  blame  ?  Is  it  an  extra- 
neous thing,  an  external  expression  from  the  mouth 
of  Godj  of  disapprobation  and  disappointed  feeling 
toward  the  sinner  ?  And  what  do  you  mean  by  man's 
moral  accountability  7  Do  you  mean  that  when  he 
has  done  acting  in  the  body,  he  shall  be  called  before 
God  in  another  state  of  being,  and  required  to  give 
account,  relate  a  history,  of  what  he  has  done,  and  the 
reason  of  his  conduct?  And  what  do  you  mean  by 
man's  desert  of  reward  or  punishment  ?  Is  it  that  when 
he  has  accounted  of  himself  as  above,  if  the  account 
is  in  truth  favorable,  he  shall  be  paid  off  for  the  grati- 
fication he  has  afforded  the  Deity,  with  the  extraneous 
reward  of  an  endless  residence  in  heaven?  And  that 
if  the  account  proves  unfavorable,  God  will,  for  this 
offence,  disappointment,  and  indignity  suffered,  wreak 
eternal  vengeance  on  the  offending  sinner's  soul?  I 
apprehend  that  the  objector's  mind  is  confused  with 
some  such  notions  of  sin,  blame,  and  accountability. 
And  with  such  a  view  of  the  sense  of  these  words,  no 
wonder  that  he  should  ask  in  perplexity  of  mind, 
"  How  is  man  accountable,  how  to  blame,  how  pun- 
ishable for  what  he  does,  if  his  actions  are  induced 
by  the  influence  of  circumstances  which  God  arranged 
for  this  purpose  in  his  own  established  order  of 
things?" 

But  we  will  try  not  to  be  deceived  by  the  sound  of 
words.  We  will  endeavor  to  take  hold  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  facts.  What  is  sin?  "Sin  is  the  transgres- 
sion of  the  law."  Of  what  law?  Is  it  the  transgres- 
sion of  the  law  or  rule  of  the  Divine  purpose,  by  which 
God  worketh  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  his  own 
will?  No;  it  is  the  law  or  rule  of  human  happiness, 
or  moral  right,  established  in  the  nature  of  things, 


406  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

and  revealed  in  the  published  lavsr,  or  word  of  God. 
Then  when  we  violate  this  law,  we  sin.  This  is  no 
farce;  it  is  a  reality.  This  law  of  happiness  does 
exist.  Though  God  has  published  it  in  his  word,  it  is 
founded  in  our  very  nature.  And  when  we  violate  it, 
the  wrong,  the  sin,  does  really  exist, — because  sin  is 
the  violation  of  this  rule,  or  law.  If  God  has  placed 
us  in  the  midst  of  circumstances,  which  for  a  wise 
purpose  he  designed  should  have  an  influence  upon  us 
to  induce  us  at  times  to  violate  this  moral  rule  or 
law,  it  does  not  alter  the  fact,  and  make  it  that  there 
is  no  sin :  for  this  is  the  sin,  it  is  the  violation  of  this 
law. 

And  with  regard  to  accountability ;  it  is  that  princi- 
ple which  God  has  established  in  the  constitution  of 
his  moral  creation,  by  which  we  are  caused  to  feel 
approbation  or  disapprobation,  happiness  or  unhappi- 
ness,  accordingly  as  we  obey  or  violate  the  principles 
of  this  moral  law.  And  this  accountability  is  real. 
This  principle  really  exists,  and  will  mete  happiness 
or  unhappiness  to  man,  according  to  his  actions, 
though  he  acts  as  he  is  acted  upon  by  the  stronger 
influence  of  circumstances  affecting  him. 

Permit  me  to  illustrate  this  principle  by  the  help  of 
a  certain  principle  in  physical  nature.  There  is  a 
natural  law,  by  which,  if  you  do  violence  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  your  physical  nature,  you  must  suffer  pain 
as  the  consequence.  If  the  wound  you  receive  was 
ordered  by  the  providence  of  God,  it  removes  not  this 
fact.  While  groaning  under  the  pain  of  a  burning 
fever,  or  a  broken  limb,  if  any  should  remark  to 
you  that  this  evil  is  ordered  by  a  wise  and  kind 
Providence, — you  would  not  say,  "If  providence 
ordered  this  event,  then  I  have  no  disease,  no  broken 


god's  sovereignty  and  man's  accountability.  407 

limb,  no  pain."  The  evil  is  there;  it  is  just  as  much 
there  if  it  came  by  order  of  Divine  Providence,  as  if  it 
came  by  chance.  The  law  of  our  physical  nature 
will  continue  to  inflict  the  pain,  as  long  as  the  disease 
counteracts  its  principles.  And  moral  accountability 
is  that  principle  in  our  moral  nature,  which  answers 
to  the  principle  just  described  in  our  physical  nature. 
It  is  really  there,  and  will  inflict  pain  on  our  violation 
of  the  law  of  our  moral  constitution,  just  as  certainly 
as  the  other  principle  will  cause  pain  upon  any  viola- 
tion of  the  law  of  physical  nature.  And  this  pain 
which  proceeds  from  a  violation  of  the  moral  law,  is 
called  punishment.  Hence,  man  is  accountable  and 
punishable  for  a  violation  of  the  moral  law,  and  that 
in  perfect  consistency  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Divine 
purpose  embracing  the  moral  as  well  as  physical  cir- 
cumstances of  mankind.  So,  if  the  question  of  account- 
ability be  reiterated  in  another  form,  asking,  why 
should  men  be  punished  for  doing  what  they  are 
induced  to  do  by  circumstances  foreknown  of  God, 
the  answer  is,  the  punishment  is  not  an  arbitrary 
infliction  of  revengeful  torture,  but  it  is  the  necessary 
evil  which  belongs  to  the  violation  of  the  moral  law. 
Such  is  the  moral  nature  of  man,  that  the  exercise  and 
practice  of  hatred,  jealousy,  injustice,  or  any  evil  prin- 
ciple, must  as  necessarily  produce  the  moral  woe 
called  punishment,  as  physical  disease  causes  bodily 
pain. 

And  the  institution  and  administration  of  this  retri- 
butive principle  of  accountability  is  just  and  right, 
because  it  is  good,  it  is  corrective.  If  the  child  could 
put  his  fingers  into  the  fire  without  pain,  he  might 
burn  them  ofl"  before  he  should  become  old  enough  to 
make   them  useful.     The   pain   which   accompanies 


408  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

certain  destructive  circumstances  of  the  body,  induces 
us  to  guard  against  those  circumstances.  And  so  the 
pains  or  punishments  of  sin  exert  an  influence  to 
guard  us  against  sin.  And  they  do,  to  a  great 
extent,  prove  efficacious.  That  constitution  of  our 
moral  nature  by  which  we  shrink  from  the  touch  of 
evil  principles,  as  we  shrink  from  the  touch  of  fire  to 
our  flesh,  operates  to  a  great  extent  to  preserve  man- 
kind from  moral  disease.  And  even  those  punish- 
ments which  God  has  sometimes  inflicted  by  a  special 
interposition  of  external  providence,  are  also  just  and 
right  because  infinite  wisdom  sees  them  necessary  as  a 
means  for  the  proper  exercise  of  his  moral  government 
over  the  world. 

I  think  that  our  general  subject  is  cleared  from  diffi- 
culty. Only  cease  from  using  words  without  definite 
ideas,  and  come  down  to  a  view  of  facts,  rather  than 
dally  upon  the  sound  of  words,  and  all  appears  clear. 
God  is  viewed  and  adored  in  all  his  infinite  perfections, 
as  the  all- wise  and  omniscient  Governor  of  the  natural 
and  moral  world, — and  man  also,  by  a  wise  and  benev- 
olent economy  of  God,  accountable^  i.  e.  rewardable  and 
punishable  for  his  conduct.  And  these  truths  must 
have  existed  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  man. 
If  God  had  not  devised  a  plan,  and  did  not  exercise  a 
government  to  carry  that  plan  into  effect,  in  relation  to 
the  moral  as  well  as  the  natural  circumstances  of  his 
creation,  he  would  have  been  unworthy  of  human 
confidence  and  praise.  And  if  he  had  not  subjected 
men  to  this  principle  of  moral  accountability,  they 
would  not  have  been  capacitated  for  coming  up  into 
that  peculiar  species  of  individual  enjoyment  as  moral 
beings,  for  which  they  are  designed.  The  more  we 
examine  this  subject,  the  more  we  see  and  admire  the 


god's  sovereignty  and  man's  accountability.  409 

consummate  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God,  in  the  con- 
stitution and  government  of  the  moral,  as  well  as  of 
the  natural  world. 

With  a  few  brief  remarks  on  the  practical  influence 
of  a  belief  in  the  doctrines  of  this  chapter,  I  will 
conclude.  Some  have  thought  that  this  belief  is 
unfriendly  to  the  cause  of  virtue.  But  so  widely  do  I 
differ,  as  to  think  that  no  sentiment  is  so  friendly  to 
virtue's  cause.  The  sentiment  which  I  have  advo- 
cated is  not  that  of  some  predestinarians,  who  hold  to 
the  arbitrary  decrees  of  God,  executed  by  a  constant 
miraculous  exertion  of  Divine  power  impelling  men  to 
action,  and  to  arbitrary  and  revengeful  punishments. 
The  decrees  of  God  are  founded  in  the  constitution  of 
things ;  in  the  connections  and  dependencies  of  circum- 
stances and  events.  The  actions  of  men  are  induced 
by  circumstances,  so  that  with  the  creature  they  are 
voluntary ;  or  /ree,  if  you  will  take  the  word  free  to 
apply  to  the  voluntary  action  of  the  mind,  not  com- 
pelled by  outward  force.  This  is  the  only  sense  in 
which  man's  agency  is  free.  It  is  not  free  in  a  sense 
to  be  able  to  will  one  thing  as  well  as  another,  under 
circumstances  the  same.  God  himself  is  not  free  in 
this  sense.  His  holy  nature  admits  of  no  freedom  to 
do  wrong  as  well  as  right.  '-It  is  impossible  for  God 
to  lie."  He  is  free  to  do  his  pleasure;  he  is  free  to 
choose  what  he  will.  But  it  would  be  irreverence  to 
say  that  he  can  will  to  do  evil,  or  the  lesser  good. 
And  with  regard  to  our  moral  freedom,  it  consists  only 
in  the  fact  that  the  mind  acts  by  the  influence  of 
motives  operating  within  itself,  so  that  its  own  consent 
is  obtained.  Indeed,  we  are  as  morally  free  as  we 
could  be,  surrounded  by  the  circumstances  in  the  midst 
of  which  we  are  placed,  even  if  there  were  no  intelli- 
35 


410  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

gent  power  above  us.  The  difference  between  us  and 
some  others,  is  chiefly  in  this;  that  the  direction  of 
the  circumstances  affecting  the  influences  that  bear 
npen  us,  is  of  the  government  of  God,  and  not  of  athe- 
istical Chance  or  heathen  Fate.  But  God  does  not,  by 
any  direct  interposition,  interfere  with  the  voUtions 
of  our  minds.  They  are  our  own,  in  the  sense 
in  which  our  existence  is  our  own.  But  that  our 
choice  is  influenced  by  motives,  and  those  motives  by 
circumstances,  no  man  will  deny,  unless  he  shuts  his 
eyes  upon  himself.  And  why  should  one  wish  to 
shut  his  eyes  upon  the  knowledge  of  himself,  and  of 
man?  How  important  is  a  knowledge  of  the  facts 
which  we  have  brought  to  view  in  relation  to  man,  in 
its  practical  bearing.  We  must  understand  the  nature 
of  human  agency,  and  the  principle  of  government 
over  mind  by  moral  influences,  in  order  to  apply  a 
successful  system  of  moral  education.  And  with  the 
true  knowledge  of  man  in  this  respect,  we  shall  both 
be  able  to  conduct  the  better  system  of  moral  disci- 
pline, and  at  the  same  time  to  see  that  God  may 
accomplish  all  his  purposes  with  regard  to  the  moral 
state  of  his  creatures,  and  even  bring  them  all  to 
worship  and  adore  him,  by  the  operation  of  causes 
which  shall  induce  their  own  voluntary  action. 

One  circumstance  which  repels  the  consent  of  the 
mind  to  acts  of  wrong,  and  inclines  it  to  the  choice  of 
virtue,  is  the  discovery  of  the  principle  of  accounta- 
bility, which  has  just  been  explained,  connecting  hap- 
ness  with  virtue,  and  misery  with  vice.  And  moral 
and  religious  instruction  is  a  means  of  placing  this  cir- 
cumstance in  its  healthful  influence,  before  the  mind. 

By  the  constitution  of  nature  which  God  has  given 
uSj  we  as  strongly  desire  happiness,  and  dislike  misery, 


411 

with  our  belief  in  the  foreknowledge  and  government 
of  God,  as  if  we  believed  that  the  affairs  of  the  moral 
creation  were  left  to  the  blind  sport  of  chance.  We 
admire  the  wisdom  of  God  in  the  constitution  of  our 
moral  as'well  as  of  our  physical  nature.  Our  innate 
desire  of  happiness,  with  the  objects  around  us  affect- 
ing that  desire,  excites  us  to  action ;  the  knowledge  of 
the  connexion  between  sinful  actions  and  miser}^, 
repels  our  choice  of  sin :  and  our  acquaintance  with 
the  fact  that  virtue's  fruit  is  happiness,  induces  our 
choice  of  virtue's  road.  And  this  view  of  the  principle 
of  accountability  as  being  founded  in  the  moral  consti- 
tution of  our  nature,  and  being  certain  in  its  awards, 
must  have  a  better  and  steadier  moral  influence,  than 
the  opposite  view  of  its  being  extraneous  and  uncertain. 
Thus  nothing  is  lost,  but  rather  something  is  gained, 
by  the  doctrine  of  this  chapter,  as  it  respects  the  moral 
influence  of  the  doctrine  of  rewards  and  punishments. 
And  then  everything  is  hereby  gained  on  the  score  of 
confidence  in  God,  and  pious  hope,  and  gratitude  and 
praise.  It  is  only  in  the  light  of  this  sentiment,  that, 
when,  with  Paul,  we  have  viewed  the  human  creation 
made  subject  to  vanity,  and  have  seen  the  reign  of 
moral  as  well  as  natural  evil,  even  of  unbelief  and 
sin, — we  can  look  through  the  cloud  of  darkness,  rise 
above  the  jarring  elements  of  moral  contrarieties,  and 
rest  on  the  perfect  government  of  God  for  the  consum- 
mation of  a  purpose,  to  eventuate  in  the  highest  uni- 
versal good ; — yes,  and  with  that  holy  apostle  exclaim 
in  pious  rapture,  '^O  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of 
the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God.  How  unsearch- 
able are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past  finding 
out.  *  *  For  of  him,  and  through  him,  and  to 
him,  are  all  things,  to  whom  be  glory  forever.    Amen." 


CHAPTER     XIV. 

FAITH,    REPENTANCE,    AND   THE    NEW   BIRTH. 

SECTION    I. 

Faith. 

The  Christian  faith  is  a  beUef  and  trustful  confi- 
dence in  Christian  truth.  It  is  a  plain  and  interesting 
subject ;  yet  human  theology  has  defrauded  the  mind 
of  its  blessed  simplicity,  by  throwing  around  it  the 
garb  of  mystery.  And  not  a  few  there  are,  whom 
education  has  so  accustomed  to  associate  religion  and 
mystery,  that  an  intelligible,  common-sense  doctrine 
is  hardly  viewed  as  possessing  the  dignity  which 
belongs  to  religion. 

Our  present  subject  is  defined  by  Dr.  Brown,  in  his 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  in  the  following  manner : — 
"  Saving  faith  is  that  gracious  quality,  principle  or 
habit  wrought  in  the  heart  by  the  Spirit  taking  the 
things  of  Jesus  and  showing  them  to  us,  whereby  we 
receive  and  rest  alone  on  Christ  for  salvation  as  he  is 
offered  to  us  in  the  gospel.  By  this  faith  we  are 
united  to  his  person,  as  our  spiritual  head  and  hus- 
band, and  he  dvvelleth  in  our  heart ;  are  interested  in 
his  righteousness  and  fulness;  and  by  improvement 
thereof,  become  bold  before  God,  and  active  in  his 
service.  This  is  the  faith  of  God's  elect,  as  none  but 
they  are  made  sharers  of  it,  and  they  alone  are  in  the 
faith;  that  is,  possessed  of,  and  act  according  to  the 
principles  of  it.  Faith,  as  a  habit  or  principle,  is 
implanted  in  every  regenerated  infant,  even  though 
the  word  of  God  can  neither  be  the  means  of  their 


FAITH,    REPENTANCE,    AND    THE    NEW    BIRTH.  413 

regeneration,  nor  can  they  act  faith   on  it,  as  it  is 
unknown  to  them." 

Now  who  can  understand  the  nature  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  from  this  definition  of  it 7  What  is  it? 
and  how  will  you  go  at  work  to  obtain  it?  Why,  the 
author  above  quoted  says,  "  it  is  that  gracious  quality, 
principle,  or  habit,  wrought  in  the  heart  by  the  Spirit 
taking  the  things  of  Christ  and  showing  them  to  us." 
The  elect  only  can  have  it;  and  even  elect  irifants 
may  possess  it,  though  they  have  no  understanding. 
And  if  elect  infants  may  have  it  without  understand- 
ing, of  course  elect  men  and  women  may  possess  the 
Christian  faith  likewise,  while  as  ignorant  of  the 
truths  of  the  gospel  as  those  regenerated  infants  ! 

The  proper  Christian  faith,  then,  as  thus  defined, 
does  not,  as  St.  Paul  describes  it,  come  by  hearing  the 
word  of  God,  nor  by  reading  or  understanding  it.  It  is 
an  imagined  inexplicable  something,  supposed  to  be 
miraculously  wrought  in  the  person's  constitution, 
before  he  can  understand  or  receive  God's  word.  Of 
course,  it  no  more  comes  through  the  medium  of  the 
understanding,  than  does  the  curdling  chill  of  the 
blood  in  the  cold  winter's  blast. 

It  is  the  prevalence  of  this  view  of  religious  faith, 
that  exposes  so  many  minds  to  slavish  entanglement  in 
dark  and  absurd  theological  schemes.  When  they  have 
imbibed  the  opinion  that  faith  is  a  mysterious  "qual- 
ity," wrought  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  but  not  through 
the  means  of  instruction  and  enlightenment  of  the 
mind,  they  are  then  in  a  situation  to  be  imposed  upon 
by  the  sleight  of  men.  Any  frame  or  emotion  of 
feeling,  which  even  the  impostor's  operations  excite^ 
maybe  dignified  into  the  gracious  "quality"  of  the 
Christian  faith. 

35* 


414  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

But  as  I  said  in  the  outset,  our  subject  is  not  in 
itself  mysterious.  Christian  faith  is  the  reception,  with 
a  loving,  trusting  heart,  of  Christian  truth.  St.  Paul 
says  it  "is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the 
evidence  of  things  not  seen."  *  It  is  to  be  obtained, 
then,  through  the  medium  of  evidence.  Hence  the 
same  apostle  says,  in  another  place, — "So  then  faith 
Cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God."  ^ 
The  word  hearings  in  this  case,  includes  reading,  or 
any  means  of  instruction  by  which  to  come  at  the 
word  of  God.  When  we  read  the  Scriptures,  the 
word  of  God  speaketh  unto  us  through  the  inspired 
record ;  and  if  we  ponder  and  understand,  we  hear  the 
word  of  God. 

If, then,  we  are  to  obtain  faith  by  the  means  of  hear- 
ing, what  shall  we  believe?  Everything  we  hear?  Is 
the  mere  fact  of  our  hearing  a  thing  said,  the  only  condi- 
tion of  our  belief  in  it  7  If  so,  we  must  believe  a  most 
mammoth  collection  of  contradictions  and  absurdi- 
ties. Our  faith  must  be  a  vast  reservoir  of  all  the 
good  and  evil,  truth  and  falsehood,  which  we  read  or 
hear.  No:  this  hearing  by  which  the  true  faith 
Cometh,  is  by  the  word  of  God.  And  even  what  we 
hear  alleged  as  the  word  of  God,  we  must  not  receive 
implicitly;  for  there  are  diverse  sentiments  whose 
abettors  assure  us  that  they  are  the  sentiments  of 
God's  word.  "Beloved,"  saith  an  apostle,  "believe 
not  every  spirit,  but  try  the  spirits  whether  they  are 
of  God ;  because  many  false  prophets  are  gone  out 
into  the  world."  You  must  try  what  you  hear,  by  the 
accredited  record  of  Divine  truth.  So  did  the  noble 
Bereans,  who  heard  the  preaching  of  Paul.  "  They 
received  the  word  with  all  readiness  of  mind,  (that  is, 

a  Keb.  xii.  1.  bRom.  x.  17. 


REPENTANCE.  416 

they  received  it  for  examination,)  and  searched  the 
Scriptures  daily,  whether  these  things  were  so :  there- 
fore many  of  them  beheved." 

Hence  it  is  seen  that  there  is  nothing  more  forbid- 
ding to  the  reasoning  mind  in  the  subject  of  faith, 
than  in  any  vahiable  matter  of  human  inquiry.  It 
invites  the  attention  of  all,  young  and  old,  grave  and 
gay,  as  a  subject  you  may  investigate,  understand, 
feel,  enjoy.  It  is  the  belief  of  the  word  of  God, 
which  by  the  gospel  is  preached  unto  you,  and  which 
addresses  itself  to  your  reason  and  conscience.  And 
while  the  faith  of  the  gospel  is  the  belief  of  its  teach- 
ings, it  involves  a  confiding  trust  in  the  government 
of  God,  that  in  life  or  death,  for  time  and  eternity,  the 
full  heart  can  exclaim,  "  JEHOVAH-JIREH."  ° 

SECTION   II. 
Repentance. 

Repentance,  as  it  is  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  is  a 
change  or  alteration  of  mind  and  character  for  the 
better.  The  original  word  {rnetanoeo^  to  repent)  is 
defined  by  Parkhurst  as  meaning,  "to  understand 
afterwards,  to  be  wise  after  a  fact  committed,  to  change 
one's  mind  and  opinion  so  as  to  influence  for  the  better 
his  subsequent  conduct."  It  involves,  of  course,  the 
idea  of  reformation.  It  means  something  more  than 
sorrow  on  account  of  certain  wrong  committed;  for 
one  may  regret  having  done  certain  evil  things,  not 
that  he  has  really  changed  his  mind  as  to  the  pursuit 
of  the  same  course,  but  because  he  is  detected  and 
suffers  punishment  for  his  wrong.  Sorrow  and  repent- 
ance  are   not    synonymous,    though    "  godly  sorrow 

c  Gen.  xxii.  14.  "  And  Abraham  called  the  name  of  that  place,  Jehovah- 
Jirehj"  i.  e,,  God  will  provide. 


416  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

worketh  repentance  to  salvation  not  to  be  repented 
of."  ^  That  is,  godly  sorrow  for  sin  worketh  a  change, 
a  reformation  of  mind  and  conduct. 

It  is  hence  perceived  that  gospel  repentance  includes 
a  change  of  mind  and  affections  with  regard  to  sin 
itself.  Consequently,  when  we  hear  professing  Chris- 
tians remark,  that  if  they  could  throw  off  certain  for- 
eign and  extraneous  fear,  such,  for  instance,  as  the 
fear  of  the  fabled  Tartarus  of  Pluto,  they  would  care 
not  for  the  service  of  God,  but  would  take  their  fill  of 
sin,  we  know  they  have  not  passed  through  the  work 
of  Christian  repentance.  Their  hearts  are  in  love 
with  sin;  they  are  ''in  the  gall  of  bitterness,  and  in 
the  bond  of  iniquity."  Their  professed  repentance  is 
a  mere  piece  of  wary  policy.  It  is  like  the  case  of  the 
supposed  dying  man,  who  ordered  his  son  to  convey 
back  to  his  neighbor's  barn  an  item  of  stolen  property, 
but  on  finding  himself  convalescent  countermanded 
the  order,  and  had  the  property  retaken  to  his  own 
use.  There  was  the  passion  of  fear,  but  no  inward 
hatred  of  sin. 

There  is  a  good  illustration  of  the  subject  of  repent- 
ance in  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son.  It  is  true  the 
sufferings  of  the  poor  wanderer  were  a  means  of  bring- 
ing him  to  himself,  to  his  sober  reflections.  And  this 
is  a  fac-simile  of  all  punishment  in  the  government  of 
God,  as  to  its  purposed  use.  It  is  to  check,  restrain, 
and  bring  the  transgressor  to  himself.  But  the  prod- 
igal was  not  governed  by  the  consideration  of  any 
extraneous  harm,  any  future  revenge,  from  an  enraged 
father.  He  was  in  a  lost  condition ;  sin  itself  was  his 
most  dreadful  enemy;  and  he  had  no  prospect,  in 
transgression's   path,   but    darkness    and   woe.      He 

J  2  Cor.  vii.  10. 


THE    NEW    BIRTH.  417 

turned  his  back  upon  his  sins,  and  returned  to  his 
father's  house.  And  the  congratulation  which  he  met 
upon  his  return  was,  not  that  he  had  thus  averted  the 
father's  wrath,  which  would  have  inflicted  a  dreadful 
death  upon  him,  but  that  he  had  escaped  from  the  death 
in  which  his  sins  had  involved  him.  ''  This,  thy  bro- 
ther, was  dead,  and  is  alive  again ;  and  was  lost,  and 
is  found." 

Such,  then,  is  gospel  repentance ; — to  see  yourself 
away  from  the  Father's  service, — to  feel  your  dreadful 
moral  deprivation  in  the  way  of  error, — to  appreciate 
the  excellence  of  God  and  your  obligations  to  serve 
him, — and  come  home,  with  a  contrite  loving  heart,  to 
God,  to  truth  and  duty.  Such  a  repentant  will  not 
draw  back  unto  perdition. 

SECTION   III. 
The  New  Birth. 

Jesus  said  unto  Nicodemus,  who  came  by  night  to 
pay  him  a  respectful  compliment,  ''  Except  a  man  be 
born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God."  *  The 
kingdom  of  God,  or  of  heaven,  is  usually  employed  in 
the  Scriptures  to  denote  the  spiritual  reign  of  Christ. 
The  prophets  had  foretold  the  coming  of  the  Messiah, 
who  should  establish  a  kingdom  of  righteousness  and 
peace.  The  Jews  generally  were  expecting  that  this 
kingdom  would  be  a  temporal  one,  swayed  and  sup- 
ported by  physical  force.  And  even  the  chosen  disci- 
ples of  Jesus,  what  time  he  was  with  them  on  earth, 
though  they  learned  much  of  the  nature  of  his  religion, 
did  not  understand  to  apply  the  term  kingdom  to  it, — 
but  for  this  they  were  looking  for  a  worldly  reign, 

e  John  iii.  3. 


418  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

which  should  break  the  Roman  yoke,  and  restore  to 
Israel  their  former,  and  more  than  their  former  poHti- 
cal  freedom  and  glory.  But  Avhen  they  had  learned 
that  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  is  a  spiritual  kingdom,  they 
doubtless  understood  in  a  new  and  clear  light  such 
previous  sayings  of  their  Master  as  these: — "  Go,- 
preach  the  kingdom  of  God ; "  ^  "  The  kingdom  of  God 
is  come  unto  you;"=  "The  kingdom  of  God  cometh 
not  with  observation ;  neither  shall  they  say,  lo  here ! 
or  lo  there !  for  behold,  the  kingdom  of  God  is  within 
you  ; '""  and  again,  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like 
unto  leaven,  which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in  three 
measures  of  meal,  until  the  whole  was  leavened."' 
The  kingdom  of  God  being  a  spiritual  kingdom,  it  is, 
then,  in  literal  terms,  the  religion  of  Jesus.  It  is 
called  a  kingdom  Avith  reference  to  its  government  of 
the  hearts  and  lives  of  men.  That,  indeed,  is  very 
literally  a  kingdom,  which  controls  the  inner  man, — 
which  forms  the  mind,  directs  the  will,  and  governs 
the  life.  And  it  is  the  kingdom  of  God  and  of  heaven, 
because  it  is  of  God,  and  in  its  nature  heavenly. 

Such  being  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  qualifications 
for  an  inheritance  of  it  must  be  spiritual,  and  not 
worldly.  Accordingly,  when  Nicodemus  came  to 
Jesns  by  night,  in  a  favorable  opinion  of  him  to  be 
sure,  but  rather  with  the  etiquette  of  worldly  courtiers 
than  with  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  warfare,  the  Mas- 
ter said  unto  him,  "  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he 
cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Though  I  take  the  sentiment  expressed  by  these 
words,  in  a  general  application,  yet  I  will  prepare  the 
reader's  mind  for  a  better  understanding  of  it,  by  a  few 
remarks  on  the  use  of  the  particular  language  in  the 

fLuke  ix.  2.  ?Matt.  xii.  28.  ^  Luke  xvii.  21.  '  Matt.  xiii.  24. 


THE    NEW    BIRTH.  419 

case  before  us.  Why  did  Jesus  employ  this  particular 
form  of  expression  here,  to  signify  a  change  which  he 
usually  described  by  other  language  ?  I  will  offer 
some  reasons  for  believing  that  he  designed  this  lan- 
guage in  particular,  for  application  to  the  Jeics^  a 
ruler  of  whom  he  was  addressing. 

One  circumstance  to  be  noticed  is,  that  the  Jews 
were  expecting  the  benefits  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom, 
on  the  ground  of  their  natural  relation  to  Abraham. 
When  Jesus,  on  a  certain  occasion,  informed  them  by 
what  means  they  might  become  free,  they  said,  "  We 
be  Abraham's  seed,  and  were  never  in  bondage  to  any 
man:  how  sayest  thou,  ye  shall  be  made  free?" 
"  Jesus  answered  them.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you, 
whosoever  committeth  sin,  is  the  servant  (or  slave) 
of  sin."  They  would  have  it,  that,  as  they  were  Abra- 
ham's seed,  that  was  enough.  They  were  never  in 
bondage,  and  they  needed  not  to  be  made  free.  And 
so  with  regard  to  the  kingdom  of  the  promised  Mes- 
siah,— they  supposed  that  when  he  should  come,  they 
should,  of  course,  as  the  children  of  Abraham,  enjoy 
his  immediate  favor,  and  inherit  the  benefits  of.  his 
kingdom.  They  supposed  that  they,  as  the  natural 
posterity  of  Abraham,  in  distinction  from  other  na- 
tions, were  the  legitimate  heirs,  by  natural  birth,  of 
this  distinguishing  favor.  But  Jesus  insisted  that  they 
needed  a  change.  They  were  slaves  to  error  and 
vice,  and  needed  a  liberation  from  their  thraldom.  Or, 
in  the  words  employed  in  the  present  case,  they  must 
be  horn  again.  Their  natural  birth  did  not  entitle 
them,  more  than  others,  to  the  kingdom  of  God ;  they 
must  be  born  again,  bor7i  from  above ^  as  the  marginal 
reading  is,  by  the  word  of  God.  This  was  an  appro- 
priate figure  of  speech  to  be  applied  to  those  who  were 


420  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

erroneously  expecting  to  inherit  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
by  virtue  of  their  natural  birth  as  Abraham's  progeny, 
— to  tell  them  they  must  be  born  again^  by  the  influ- 
ence of  principles  from  above,  in  order  to  enjoy  that 
blessing. 

In  the  second  place,  there  was  a  common  form  of 
speech  among  the  Jews,  quite  similar  to  this,  which 
they  applied  to  the  conversion  of  Gentiles  to  Judaism. 
They  used  to  say  that  a  Gentile  convert  was  as  a 
new-born  child^  and  had  commenced  a  new  life.  The 
use  of  such  language  among  the  Jews,  in  relation 
to  Gentile  converts,  is  what  justifies  Christ's  reproof 
to  Nicodemus,  when  he  put  so  strange  a  construction 
as  he  did  on  the  expression,  "born  again," — saying, 
"Art  thou  a  master  in  Israel,  and  knowest  not  these 
things?"  This  censure  cast  upon  Nicodemus  would 
have  been  arbitrary,  unless  there  had  been  some  use 
of  language  in  Israel,  with  which  he  as  a  master  in 
Israel  must  have  been  familiar,  which  should  have 
led  him  to  put  a  more  rational  and  correct  construc- 
tion on  the  words  uttered  by  Christ.  But  the  fact 
now  adduced  explains  and  justifies  the  censure;  for 
as  the  Jews  reckoned  that  a  proselyte  to  their  religion 
from  Gentilism,  was  as  a  new-born  child,  he  should 
not  have  regarded  it  as  an  absurd  use  of  language  for 
Christ  to  say  that  even  the  Jews^  to  inherit  his  reli- 
gion, must  be  born  again,  or  become  as  new-born 
children. 

That  this  particular  form  of  speech  was  designed 
for  a  special  application  to  the  Jews,  is  furthermore 
evident,  from  the  circumstance  that  in  all  the  recorded 
teachings  of  the  apostles,  when  the  ministry  of  the 
gospel  was  extended  to  the  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews, 
this  form  of  speech  is  not  employed  to  express  Chris- 


THE   NEW    BIRTH.  4^1 

tian  conversion,  except  in  one  instance  in  the  first 
Epistle  of  Peter,  which  was  Avritten  especially  for  con- 
verted Jews : — "  Seeing  ye  have  purified  your  souls, 
in  obeying  the  truth  through  the  spirit,  unto  unfeigned 
love  of  the  brethren,  see  that  ye  love  one  another  with 
a  pure  heart  fervently ;  beiiig  born  again,  not  of  cor- 
ruptible seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  by  the  word  of  God, 
which  liveth  and  abideth  forever."^  And  St.  John, 
who  recorded  the  words  of  Christ  referred  to,  intro- 
duces into  his  Epistles  a  similar  form  of  speech,  bei?ig 
born  of  God.  ''He  that  loveth  is  born  of  God,  and 
knoweth  God,  for  God  is  love."  These  epistles, 
though  they  may  have  been  addressed  to  believers  in 
general,  were  written  by  one  whose  ministry  was 
chiefly  among  the  Jews. 

But  because  the  phrase,  born  again,  is  employed  in 
two  or  three  cases  in  the  New  Testament,  for  a  partic- 
ular application  to  the  Jews,  who  were  depending 
on  their  distinction  of  natural  birth, — some  have  raised 
a  doctrine  from  it  but  little  less  strange  than  were  the 
ideas  which  Nicodemus  at  first  attached  to  this  form 
of  speech.  They  have  associated  with  these  words 
the  idea  of  a  sort  of  change,  or  production  of  a  new 
moral  nature,  which,  in  every  individual  so  changed 
constitutes  as  real,  direct,  and  great  a  miracle,  as  the 
causing  of  the  sun  to  stand  still,  or  the  raising  of  the 
literally  dead  to  life. 

So  strangely  blinded  have  some  minds  become  on 
this  subject,  that  they  are  incapable  of  receiving  any 
rational  ideas  in  relation  to  it.  You  may  describe  the 
real  Christian  conversion  in  the  most  plain  and  intel- 
ligible language,  even  in  the  language  in  which  the 
Scriptures  usually  describe  it,  and  they  will  not  be 

J 1  Peter  i.  22. 

36 


422  COMPEND   OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

aware  that  you  have  preached  the  doctrine  of  the 
new  birth.  Much  that  you  have  spoken,  they  will 
say,  is  good  so  far  as  it  goes.  You  seem  to  hold  that 
we  must,  in  order  to  enjoy  the  happiness  of  the  king- 
dom of  God,  study,  understand,  believe,  feel  and  prac- 
tise, the  true  principles  of  the  gospel ;  but  then  you  do 
not  urge  the  necessity  of  the  7ieio  birth  ;  our  Saviour 
says,  "Ye  must  be  born  agai?i.^^  Thus  they  are  so 
blinded  by  a  false  idea  attached  to  a  figurative  expres- 
sion, that  while  they  describe  the  very  change  which 
is  expressed  by  the  phrase,  being  born  agaifi,  and  ac- 
knowledge that  you  hold  it,  they  yet  judge  that  you 
do  not  hold  the  doctrine  of  the  new  birth. 

Now  the  Christian  new  birth  is  comprised  in  the 
very  things  which  are  stated  above, — studying^  un- 
derstandings believing^  feeling  and  practising^  the  true 
principles  of  the  gospel.  St.  Peter  so  describes  it  in 
the  case  which  we  have  quoted  from  him: — ''Seeing 
ye  have  purified  your  souls,  in  obeying  the  truth 
through  the  spirit, — see  that  ye  love  one  another  with 
a  pure  heart  fervently; — being  born  again, — by  the 
word  of  GodP  Thus  is  the  new  birth  defined  as  be- 
ing produced  by  the  influence  of  the  word  of  God, 
which  is  preached  by  the  gospel ;  and  as  being  enjoyed 
and  manifested  by  obedience  of  the  same  word  of 
truth.  And  believing  and  obeying  the  gospel  did 
indeed  produce  such  a  change  with  the  Jews,  as  far  as 
they  received  it,  as  made  them  new-born  children.  It 
brought  them  entirely  into  new  views  concerning  the 
kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  into  new  feelings  towards 
mankind,  and  into  new  hopes  and  expectations.  And 
however  they  might  boast  of  their  relation  to  father 
Abraham,  and  their  favor  with  God  in  the  possession 
of  his  oracles,  these  new  views,  new  feelings,  and  new 


THE   NEW    BIRTH.  423 

hopes  and  expectations,  they  must  have, — they  must 
be  born  into  them,  in  order  to  inherit  the  Messiah's 
reUgion,  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Though  the  words  referred  to  were  spoken  by  our 
Lord  for  a  particular  appUcation  to  the  Jews  of  that 
age,  yet  a  similar  change  to  what  was  meant  by  these 
words,  is  necessary  for  all  men  of  all  ages,  to  be  ex- 
perienced in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  according  to 
previous  character  and  circumstances.  No  one  is 
naturally  born  in  possession  of  the  light  of  Divine 
truth,  nor  does  he  by  his  physical  growth  come  into 
possession  of  it.  Though  he  may  gradually  come 
into  the  knowledge  and  enjoyment  of  it  from  child 
hood,  being  trained  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition 
of  the  Lord,  yet  the  same  change  in  substance  is  ex- 
perienced, for  his  enjoying  the  religion  of  the  gospel. 
He  does  not  have  to  be  changed  from  so  much  actual 
error  and  moral  corruption,  as  were  the  Jews  who 
were  converted  to  Christianity  in  the  Saviour's  time. 
But  he  is  and  must  be  changed  from  ignorance,  from  a 
state  of  destitution  with  regard  to  these  things,  into  the 
knowledge  and  practice  and  enjoyment  of  them.  He 
has  been  born  into  the  world  a  living  soul :  but  he 
must  be  born  again,  intellectually  and  morally.  The 
mind  must,  by  cultivation,  be  made  a  fruitful  field,  or 
it  will  be  overgrown  with  thorns,  and  become  a  waste 
wilderness. 

I  do  not  by  this  give  countenance  to  the  idea  that 
human  nature  is  radically  and  totally  corrupt.  Human 
nature  may  be  good  enough ;  but  we  know  that  so  it 
always  has  been,  and  so  it  is,  that  when  the  human 
mind  has  been  let  alone, — when  it  has  not  been  culti- 
vated and  disciplined  by  the  teachings  of  truth  from 
God,  so  as  to  be  born  from  above, — it  has  become  en- 


424  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

cumbered  with  weeds  of  noxious  errors.  So,  for  a 
wise  purpose,  God  has  constituted  and  circumstanced 
the  human  mind.  It  must  be  changed  from  ignorance 
to  knowledge, — and  from  knowledge  to  knowledge, 
from  glory  to  glory,  by  the  culture  of  Christian  truth. 

A  correct  view  of  man  in  this  respect,  is  of  great 
importance,  both  with  regard  to  our  treatment  of 
ourselves,  and  of  the  rising  generation.  Concerning 
ourselves,  it  is  not  enough  that  we  can  boast  of  our 
relationship  to  patriots  and  freemen.  We  may  boast 
of  our  political  and  religious  rights,  into  the  inherit- 
ance of  which  we  are  born ;  but  we  must  be  born 
again ;  the  mind  must  be  enlightened  with  truth  and 
stored  with  goodness,  or  we  cannot  see  the  kingdom 
of  God,  the  blessed  reign  of  moral  liberty  and  peace. 

And  with  regard  to  our  treatment  of  the  rising  gen- 
eration,— we  are  urged  by  the  sentiment  before  us,  to 
strive  for  their  Christian  education.  This  will  lay 
the  foundation  of  all  other  good  in  life.  It  will  recon- 
cile the  young  aspiring  mind  to  the  government  of 
God,  and  fill  the  soul  with  hope  in  his  goodness.  It 
will  render  the  study  of  his  laAV  delightful,  and  ele- 
vate the  affections  to  the  pure  and  the  good. 

"  With  joy  it  crowns  succeeding  years, 
And  renders  virtue  strong." 


CHAPTER    XV. 

THE    INFLUENCE    OF    CHRISTIANITY    IN    FORMING   THE   LIFE. 

Having  now,  after  exceeding  my  intended  limits, 
presented  the  reader  with  what  I  regard  as  a  com- 
pend  of  the  Christian  doctrines,  I  will  close  with  a 
brief  chapter  on  the  practical  influence  of  these  doc- 
trines in  forming  the  life. 

1.    The  system  of  faith  herein  comprised,  involves 
the  practical  exercise  of  Supreme  Co7ifidence  in  God. 
It  evinces,  in  all  its  principles  and  parts,  the  infinite 
perfectness  of  God  in  all  his  adorable  attributes.     By 
the  light  of  its  teachings  we  see  the  eternal  Father,  in 
the   perfectness  of  his   knowledge   and  wisdom,   the 
infinity  of  his  love,  the  excellence  of  his  justice,  the 
almightiness  of  his  power,  and  the  indissolubihty  and 
glory  of  his  grace.     It  does  not  ascribe  these  perfec- 
tions to  God  in  7iaine  merely,  and  at  the  same  time,  in 
describing  the  purposes  and  operations  of  his  creation 
and  government,  make  him  short-sighted,  unwise,  in- 
consistent, feeble,  and  unkind;— but  it  exhibits  these 
adorable  perfections  in  all  the  Creator's  purposes  and 
doings.      In  the  creation  of  this  beautiful  world  and 
its  furniture  for  man  ;  in  the  constitution  of  our  bodies, 
and  of  our  minds,  and  of  all  the  interesting  relations 
in  which  we  are  placed;   in  subjecting  us  to   high 
duties   as   his   children,   by   the   institution   of   laws 
adapted  to  our  being  as  made  in  the  Divine  image; 
in  the  annexation  of  penalties  to  those  laws,  and  the 
administration  of  judgment  in  their  execution ;  and  in 
36* 


426  COMPEND    OF   CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

the  grand  purpose  of  his  grace  revealed  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Saviour, — in  all  these  plans  and  operations 
of  God,  we  see  the  harmonious  action  of  all  his  per- 
fections. All  concur  to  promote  the  wise  and  good 
design,  to  rear  up,  discipline,  and  qualify,  a  great 
family  of  children,  to  enjoy  with  the  Father  immortal 
felicity. 

The  faith  of  this  great  and  harmonious  system  of 
truth,  when  it  has  existence  in  the  mind,  must  pro- 
duce a  most  peaceful  confidence  in  God.  We  cannot 
fear  any  ultimate  harm  from  the  operations  of  his 
government.  Even  when  disappointments  and  trou- 
bles become  a  portion  of  our  allotment,  we  rest  in 
hope,  seeing  that  unerring  wisdom  is  overruling  pres- 
ent evil  for  ultimate  good. 

"  This  can  my  fears  control, 
And  bid  my  sorrows  fly ; 
What  real  harm  can  reach  my  soul, 
Beneath  my  Father's  eye  ?" 

In  this  faith  we  have  also  a  double  enjoyment  of 
the  blessings  of  life.  It  enables  us  to  receive  the  daily 
gifts  of  his  providence,  as  the  kind  benefactions  of  an 
almighty  Father,  whose  goodness  will  never  leave 
nor  forsake  us,  but  be  more  and  more  visibly  dis- 
played forever  and  ever. 

"  Thus  we  can  with  his  people  taste 
The  blessings  of  his  love, 
While  hope  attends  the  sweet  repast 
Of  nobler  joys  above." 

2.  The  faith  of  the  Christian  system,  as  here  ex- 
hibited, involves  also  the  exercise  of  Siipreme  Love  to 
God.  This  is  indeed  comprised  in  the  confidence  just 
described.     For  where  there  is  confidence  there  must 


THE   CHRISTIAN   INFLUENCE   IN   LIFE.  427 

be  love.  You  cannot  exercise  supreme  confidence  in 
any  being,  unless  you  can  view  him  in  a  character 
supremely  lovely.  Neither  can  you  love  a  being 
supremely,  unless  you  can  view  him  in  a  character 
perfectly  trustworthy.  Confidence  and  love  are  twm 
sisters. 

Now  it  is  the  first  great  commandment  of  the  moral 
law,  that  we  love  the  Lord  our  God  with  all  our 
heart.  And  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  Christian  mission 
to  bring  the  moral  creation  into  the  blessed  service  of 
this  love,  in  the  spirit  of  reconciliation  to  God.  This 
can  never  be  done  but  by  the  power  of  reason  and 
love.  Men  may  be  taken  and  thrown  by  brute  force 
into  one  or  another  posture;  or  they  may  be  driven 
by  slavish  fear  into  proscribed  professions,  attitudes, 
and  genuflections ;  but  in  these  operations  there  is 
nothing  akin  to  virtue,  or  related  to  the  service  of 
God.  For  a  dumb  and  senseless  idol,  a  blind  and 
senseless  worship  may  suffice : — but  to  the  God  of 
supreme  intelligence  and  glory,  no  worship  is  accep- 
table, but  that  which  is  rendered  in  the  understand- 
ing, and  in  the  spirit  of  sentimental  gratitude  and 
love.  But  no  man  can  love  God  until  he  has  so 
learned  the  truth  as  to  see  him  in  his  loveliness.  It  is 
not  an  affection  into  which  the  mind  can  force  itself 
without  a  reason.  But  in  the  light  of  truth,  and  the 
communion  of  love  Divine,  the  soul  can  respond  to 
the  beloved  disciple,  "  We  love  him  because  he  first 
loved  us."  So  certainly  did  the  apostle  view  it  a  set- 
tled principle,  that  when  a  man  has  a  true  and  eflfect- 
ive  knowledge  of  the  character  of  God,  he  will  love 
him,  that  he  boldly  affirms,  "He  that  loveth  not, 
knoweth  not  God;  for  God  is  love."  He  who  knows 
God,  therefore,  will  love  him.     Hence,  it  is  the  econ- 


428  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN   DIVINITY. 

omy  of  God's  wisdom,  for  the  reconciliation  of  man  to 
himself,  to  make  known  his  everlasting  love,  and  his 
effective  grace. 

It  is  on  this  point  especially,  that  the  wisdom  of  the 
world  is  foolishness  with  God.  Human  policy  has 
suggested,  that  even  if  God's  great  purpose  of  unfail- 
ing grace  for  mankind  is  true,  it  is  not  wise  and  jt>n/- 
dent  to  promulgate  such  truth.  But  the  inspired 
apostle  assures  us,  that  in  "  making  known  unto  us 
the  mystery  of  his  will,  according  to  his  good  pleasure 
which  he  hath  purposed  in  himself,  that  he  might 
gather  together  in  one,  all  things  in  Christ," — ''  God 
hath  abounded  toward  us  in  all  wisdom  and  prudence."* 
He  knows  what  is  in  the  moral  nature  of  man;  he 
knows  by  what  influences  his  heart  is  to  be  won  to 
the  Source  of  all  good ;  and  accordingly,  the  very  first 
aim  of  the  gospel  mission  is,  to  assure  his  children, 
even  his  lost  and  sinful  children,  that  he  loves  them. 
"God  commendeth  his  love  towards  us,  in  that  while 
we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us."  "  Herein  is 
love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us, 
and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins." 
Go,  then,  ye  servants  of  Jesus,  and  fear  not  that  it 
shall  harm  the  children  to  let  them  know  that  the 
Father  loves  them. 

3.  Christianity,  which  it  has  been  the  labor  of  this 
volume  to  condense  from  the  Scriptures,  produces  a 
filial  respect  for  the  Law  of  God,  and  obedience  to  its 
Precepts.  The  confidence  in  God,  before  described, 
will  naturally  beget  the  assurance  that  his  laws  are 
the  laws  of  a  friend,  wisely  framed,  and  adapted  to 
our  welfare.  It  is  not  from  a  peaceful  confidence  ii^ 
God  that  men  are  led  into  sin.     It  is  from  a  distrust 

aEph.  i.  8— 10. 


THE    CHRISTIAN   INFLUENCE    IN   LIFE.  429 

of  God's  wisdom  and  goodness,  a  dissatisfaction  with 
his  government  and  laws,  and  a  hope  to  do  better  for 
themselves  by  pursuing  their  own  ways.  The  human 
doctrines  of  revenge,  ascribed  to  the  government  of 
God,  will  not  effect  the  needed  reform.  Look  upon 
the  more  hardened  sinners,  and  you  will  see  that  these 
are  the  principles  which  have  formed  their  hearts,  the 
moral  atmosphere  which  they  inhale.  Their  very 
throat  is  an  open  sepulchre,  from  which  issue  per- 
petual streams  of  "hell  and  damnation."  The  same 
streams  issuing  from  the  pulpit  will  not  refine  them. 
They  need  the  contact  of  a  different  moral  element, 
that  of  love  Divine,  They  need  light,  the  light  of 
truth,  to  see  that  God's  love  is  not  interposed  between 
them  and  their  best  good  in  life,  but  leads  them  in  the 
way  of  peace.  Let  them  have  the  clear  light  of  the 
Father's  law,  as  presented  in  the  fourth  chapter  of 
this  work,  and  then  the  same  motive,  the  love  of  life 
and  good  days,  which  prompts  mankind  to  all  their 
ordinary  labors,  will  return  them  to  obedience  and 
duty.  And  if,  in  an  evil  hour,  one  is  tempted  by  the 
thoughts  of  greater  good  in  sin,  the  truth  we  have 
exhibited  on  the  penalties  of  the  law,  will  counteract 
the  evil.  It  will  sound  the  caution  in  his  ear,  ^'  Do 
thyself  no  harm ;"  "  There  is  no  peace  to  the  wicked  ;" 
*'  Destruction  and  misery  are  in  their  ways ;"  ''  Though 
hand  join  in  hand,  the  wicked  shall  not  be  unpun- 
ished." 

Here,  then,  is  a  perfect  system  of  faith  and  practice. 
It  secures  the  highest  principle  of  virtue,  confidence  in 
God,  and  at  the  same  time  preserves  the  assurance  of 
punishment  in  case  of  wrong.  And  one  of  these  prin- 
ciples of  action  is  not  countervailed  by  the  other.  Our 
confidence  in  God  does  not  free  us  from  the  assurance 


430  COMPEND    OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

of  punishment  in  case  we  transgress, — nor  does  our 
fear  of  punishment  interfere  with,  or  weaken  oiu*  con- 
fidence in  God.  This  is  the  beautiful  and  practical 
harmony  of  Christian  Divinity^  peculiar  to  itself,  un- 
known in  the  religions  of  human  schools. 

But,  above  all,  as  we  have  remarked  before,  the 
supreme  principle  of  virtue  is  love.  We  have  attended 
to  the  first  commandment,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God."  The  second  is  like  unto  it,  or  rather  is 
involved  in  it,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thy- 
self" Like  begetteth  like ;  love  begetteth  love.  The 
manifestation  of  God's  love  to  us  brings  us  into  the 
reciprocity  of  this  love  Divine ; — and  then  it  fills  the 
soul  with  the  spirit  of  communicative  goodness.  And 
this  spirit  of  communicative  goodness,  the  principle  of 
pure  philanthropy,  of  universal  kindness,  is  the  moral 
power  by  which  man  can  reach,  win,  and  save  his 
brother  man. 

We  thank  God  that  this  supremely  important  prin- 
ciple is  becoming  better  understood.  It  seems,  in 
truth,  to  be  getting  enthroned  as  the  ruling  genius  of 
the  age.  What  a  change  the  power  of  kindness  is 
working  in  civilized  society  !  The  rulers  of  the  world 
have  been  mainly  depending,  for  the  orderly  govern- 
ment of  mankind,  on  tyrannic  severity  and  brute 
violence.  They  have  deemed  knowledge  and  free- 
dom among  the  people  to  be  unsafe,  and  their  gov- 
ernment has  been  based  upon  perpetual  warfare 
against  the  dearest  rights  and  purest  aspirations  of 
the  human  soul.  Hence,  their  thrones  have  been 
erected  in  seas  of  blood,  the  waves  of  which,  rebound- 
ing, have  again  dashed  them  to  ruin.  Go  with  the 
philanthropist  Howard,  by  the  perusal  of  his  me- 
moirs,   into    the    prisons   of   Europe    as   they   were. 


THE    CHRISTIAN   INFLUENCE    IN    LIFE.  431 

There  the  offenders  against  the  laws,  if  that  offence 
were  only  the  inability  to  pay  a  debt,  were  cast  out 
from  the  kind  sympathies  of  the  community.  They 
were  left  abandoned  there,  generally  in  under-ground 
cells,  to  dampness,  cold,  hunger,  filth,  sickness,  and 
chains.  Their  treatment  was  calculated  to  promote 
hostility  in  them  and  their  friends,  against  the  com- 
munity. These  real  hells  were  fashioned  after  the 
model  of  the  fabulous  hell  of  the  people's  creed,  where 
punishment  is  revenge  and  not  chastisement. 

But  a  blessed  change  is  in  progress.  As  we  have 
said,  the  principle  of  heavenly  wisdom,  the  spirit  of 
universal  philanthropy,  is  becoming  the  ruling  genius 
of  the  age.  It  is  reforming  creeds,  leavening  the  hearts 
of  all  sects,  and  modifying  governments  and  laws.  We 
see  it  in  the  prison  discipline  movement,  which,  en- 
listing the  co-operation  of  different  sects,  is  laboring 
to  make  our  prisons  schools  of  moral  discipline,  rather 
than  engines  of  torture.  We  see  it  in  the  anti-slavery 
enterprise,  which,  bating  all  the  indiscretions  of  men 
in  the  use  of  means,  is  founded  upon  the  broad  prin- 
ciples of  the  universal  paternity  of  God,  and  the 
universal  brotherhood  of  men,  who  are  all  bound  to 
labor  for  each  other's  instruction,  elevation,  prosperity 
and  happiness.  We  see  it  in  the  temperance  reform, 
the  spirit  of  which  discerns  a  brother  in  the  low  and 
degraded,  breathes  upon  them  a  brother's  love,  and 
warms  them  into  life, — reaches  forth  a  brother's  arm, 
raises  them  up,  and  leads  them  home  to  virtue  and 
peace. 

This  is  the  working  of  Christian  truth,  in  forming 
the  life.  Its  messengers  may  be  despised  for  their 
humbleness,  or  forgotten  in  the  bustle  of  the  world  j 


432  COMPEND   OF    CHRISTIAN    DIVINITY. 

but  their  principles  will  live  on, — truth  shall  survive, 
and  work  its  work,  "  and  none  shall  hinder  it." 

And  now,  beloved  brethren,  be  it  our  chief  ambi- 
tion, so  to  live  as  co-workers  with  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tian truth,  that  he  who  examines  our  faith,  and 
witnesses  our  life,  shall  be  constrained  to  say  of  us 
as  it  was  said  of  father  Abraham,  "So,  then,  faith 
wrought  with  his  works,  and  by  works  was  faith 
made  perfect." 


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